KARACHI: A huge fire erupted in Millennium Mall, ostensibly due to an electrical short circuit, and destroyed several hundred shops on Wednesday morning, rescue services officials said.

The fire was controlled by over a dozen fire tenders of the Rescue-1122 and the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation`s Fire Brigade after hectic efforts lasting several hours.

Cooling work was continuing till late in the evening.

While the blaze caused substantial financial losses, no one was killed or injured.

The Rescue-1122 chief operating officer Dr Abid Jalaluddin Shaikh said that his team responded swiftly after receiving the information about the fire.

He said that 12 fire tenders and two snorkels of the Rescue-1122 and the KMC Fire Brigade took part in controlling the fire.

Heavy smoke and a lack of uninterrupted water supply caused difficulties for the firefighters, he added.

The Rescue-1122 spokesperson Hassaan U1 Haseeb Khan said they received information about the fire in the mall at 4:06am and within 15 minutes their rescue team reached there.

He said that a security guard informed them that the fire had erupted inside the surveillance system of the building`s control room, located on the third floor due to a short circuit.

Mr Khan opined that perhaps initially the mall management had overlooked the fire. By the time the firemen arrived, ithadspreadtothe roofof the mall, where equipment (chillers) was kept as it was a centrally air-conditioned structure.

This intensified the fire and flames were touching the windows of the nearby residential building, creating fear of further spread. However, 12 fire tenders, with the help of two snorkels, managed to control the fire after hectic efforts lasting seven hours, by 11am. But cooling work continued till evening, the spokesperson mentioned.

He said that the third floor of the three-storey building was completely destroyed, while the first and second floors were partially damaged.

He estimated that 250 shops were completely destroyed, while an equal number were partially damaged.

In response to a question, the Rescue-1122 spokesperson said a fire safety system was there, but it was non-functional.

The firefighters attempted to activate it, but it did not respond. He mentioned that there was no ventilation inside either.