Night fire in Karol Bagh's Gaffar Market damages up to 45 shops; no one hurt

A fire that tore through a four-storey commercial building in Karol Bagh’s Gaffar Market in the early hours of Friday, November 6, 2026, damaged about 40 to 45 shops, the Delhi Fire Service said. No one was hurt.

The blaze started in a shop on the ground floor of Puri Plaza in Chain Wali Gali, Block 13, a building packed with mobile phone accessory stores, and spread to the floors above. The Karol Bagh police station received a call from the police control room at about 1:28 am.

The fire service sent 22 fire tenders, along with water bowsers and lighting equipment, and about 125 firefighters were reported to have worked through the night. The market’s narrow, crowded lanes made it hard to get the engines close, and the fire was brought under control only after several hours.

Mukesh Verma, a divisional officer of the Delhi Fire Service, said the fire was fully under control and that there were no reports of casualties. The extent of the loss has not yet been assessed.

Police suspect the fire was set off by an overheated or overcharged battery, but the cause has not been confirmed. Reports have been sought from the fire service and the electrical inspector, a forensic team will check the building for other flammable material, and the municipal corporation will be asked to examine whether the structure is still safe.

The Gaffar Market blaze was the city’s third major fire in under 24 hours, after blazes at a factory in Narela and an institute in Laxmi Nagar on Thursday. Neither of those caused any injuries.