Four garment shops go up in smoke near Margao flyover

A major fire early Monday morning gutted four garment shops, besides an electronic item establishment near the Margao flyover bridge, destroying property worth lakhs of rupees.   

Three senior citizens, who were putting up on the top floors of the building housing the five shops were rescued by firemen before they were ferried by an 108 ambulance to a hospital. 

The Margao branch of the Andhra Bank, located on the first floor of the building, also suffered minor damage in the inferno.  

The Margao fire brigade used as many as eight tenders to bring the flames under control. Fire tenders from Curchorem, Ponda and Verna, besides two tenders belonging to the Margao fire brigade, fought the fire for well over two hours. The Margao flyover was closed for traffic to facilitate fire fighting operations without any hindrances.  

The four shops housing the Lucky Garments were completely gutted in the fire. The ready-made garments and the furniture in the shops were reduced to ashes. Mohammed Iqbal, who is a relative of the owner, Firoz, pegged the total losses to around Rs 90 lakh. “New stock worth Rs 45 lakh was brought only last week. Besides, the shops were renovated with new furniture only recently, which has all been gutted,” Iqbal said.  

Margao fire officer Gill de Souza told the media that the fire originated in one of the four garment shops, before it spread to other shops. “We decided to rescued the three senior citizens from the top floors of the building because of smoke was going up to the top floors,” he said.  

To a question on the fire brigade reaching late to the spot, Gill said the Margao fire brigade received a call from the headquarters at around 9.25 am. “We reached the spot a little later since we were given the address on the other side of the railway line. Besides, we received the call during peak hours when the 

roads are congested with traffic,” he said.  

Gill said the cause of the fire could not be ascertained by the fire brigade, adding that the total loss due to destruction of property is being assessed by the agency.