Fire breaks out at a popular mall in India

A fire broke out at a busy mall in India’s national capital region on Friday, leading to chaos as shoppers scampered to safety.

There were no casualties reported. However, the panicked shoppers and showroom employees were all evacuated as a precautionary measure from Logix Mall in Noida, NDTV reported.

Videos and images from the mall showed the corridors filled with thick smoke.

Several fire tenders were rushed to the spot. Upon receiving the alert, the fire department said it promptly dispatched teams to the scene.

The fire is suspected to have been caused by a short circuit. Hindustan Times reported that the fire erupted in an Adidas showroom on the first floor of the mall.

Noida’s chief fire officer Pradeep Chaubey said the mall’s fire alarm alerted local fire departments around 11am on Friday.

At the time, the mall was relatively empty, with mainly security personnel and staff present.

“On reaching here, it was found that a fire had broken out at the Adidas showroom on the first floor. Since it was morning and all showrooms had not yet opened, its shutter was also down. Firefighters used saw cutters to cut open the shutter and entered the showroom to douse the flames,” Mr Chaubey was quoted as saying.

The firefighters reportedly broke the building’s glass panes to allow the smoke to escape.

By 12.30 pm, they had successfully extinguished the fire, but efforts to clear the remaining smoke from the building continued.

“The smoke from the fire has filled the building, and efforts are still on to remove the smoke. The cause of the fire is suspected to be a short circuit,” Mr Chaubey said.