Flea market on fire in Almaty, again

The largest flea market of Almaty city in on fire once again, Tengrinews reports citing Almaty Emergency Department. The pillar of smoke issuing from the fire is so huge that there is no place in city where it cannot be seen from. The Emergency Department confirms that there is a fire, but declines to provide any further information. Witnesses told a correspondent of STV's Territory Accidents show that two sections of the flea market are on fire: Kulager and Aral.They say that the fire started at about 3 a.m. at night. And the traders who started arriving early in the morning - at around 6 a.m. - were trying to rescue their goods. Some of them are still inside the market. After that the area was cordoned off and the police did not admit those who came later into the market for their own safety. The furious traders are trying to break through the police cordon. According to a Tengrinews correspondent, a helicopter is being used to extinguish the fire. Besides the helicopter there are more than 15 firefighting brigades at the site. An Ambulance is there as well, but there have been not reports of injuries so far. "We came to the market at 8 in the morning, I headed around the market, running, to get in from the side entrance and started bringing out the goods. But now there are very many policemen here. They don't let anyone in. So many containers have burned down already. The flames were small at first, but now the smoke is everywhere," one of the traders told. This is the second large fire at the flea market this fall. The previous one happened a little over 2 months ago, on September 13. The 5400 sq meter fire damaged four sections of the market: Olzha, Ayan, Keremet and Alatau. The massive fire was fully extinguished only the next day. The operation involved 1518 firefighters, 142 fire engines and 2 helicopters.