Over 50 shops gutted in fire at wholesale market in Delhi's Chandni Chowk
New Delhi (PTI): More than 50 shops were gutted in a massive fire in the wholesale market of Bhagirat Palace area in North Delhi's Chandni Chowk even as the cooling operations are currently underway, police said on Friday.
However, no injuries have been reported so far, they said.
According to the fire department, a call about the blaze was received at 9.19 pm on Thursday and 40 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. Currently, 22 fire tenders are engaged in the cooling process as the fire has been brought under control after over 12 hours, a fire department official said.
The fire that broke out at one shop soon spread to adjacent ones, all dealing in supplying electrical appliances, officials said.
Director of Delhi Fire Service Atul Garg on Friday told PTI, "Fire is under control. Now 22 fire tenders are working for cooling operations. However, the cause of the fire is not yet known."
The fire officials said that weak structures, shortage of water and narrow lanes posed a major challenge for Delhi Fire Service to carry out its fire-fighting operations.
Garg on Thursday tweeted, "Fire in Chandni Chowk. Total 40 fire vehicles and 200-plus fire personnel were deployed. Major concern weak structures, shortage of water and narrow lane, building started collapsing."
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed his grief over the incident and said he is taking stock of the situation from the district administration concerned.
"This incident of fire in Bhagirath Palace market of Chandni Chowk late last night is very sad. Since last night, the fire brigade personnel are working hard to douse the flames. I am taking information about this from district administration," he tweeted in Hindi.
Efforts are being put in to douse the fire. Fire officials and Police are at the site. Fire has not been brought under control so far. Two floors have been damaged. No casualty has been reported. The reason for the fire is not known yet: Former Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan pic.twitter.com/RyzQ6vkWe4
— ANI (@ANI) November 24, 2022
Chandni Chowk, Delhi | Fierce fire that broke out in the shops of Bhagirath Palace market of Chandni Chowk continues; Several fire tenders on spot
— ANI (@ANI) November 25, 2022
Early morning visuals pic.twitter.com/J3jtS5Hf3y
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
