IANS

New Delhi, Apr 11: A major fire engulfed a sprawling container depot here early Saturday, destroying 24 of the 25 warehouses that usually store goods meant for exports, the fire brigade said. Exporters associations put the losses at nearly Rs.100 crore.

The blaze at the Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Tughlakabad started around 5 a.m. but the Delhi Fire Service was alerted only about 45 minutes later, Chief Fire Officer R.C. Sharma told reporters at the fire site.

Some 30 fire tenders battled the leaping flames for at least five hours, officials and witnesses said.

"The fire spread rapidly. By the time we reached, a portion of the roof had collapsed," Sharma said.

The reason for the fire is not known. There were no causalties, though the losses could be enormous, fire officials said.

"The losses would touch Rs.100 crore," said S.P. Agarwal, president of the Delhi Exporters Association.

The fire at ICD burnt readymade garments, textiles, handicrafts, leather goods, engineering items and medicines.

"The goods which are burnt are gone, the rest was destroyed by the water from the fire tenders. A portion of the roof which fell also claimed a lot of goods," said Agarwal.

However, Raj Kumar Malhotra, chairman of the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) put a more conservative figure to the losses.

"The fire has gutted handicraft products worth over Rs.60 crore," Malhotra said.

The ICD is spread over 60 hectares near the Tughlaqabad railway station in south Delhi.