A fire breaks out at Yadanabon Market in central Mandalay.

A fire broke out this morning at Yadanabon Market in central Mandalay, residents and eyewitness told The Irrawaddy.
 
A Mandalay resident who lives near the market said, “The fire started around 8 a.m. I saw smoke bellowing from the market.” 

Firefighters tried to extinguish the fire, but without success, according to witnesses. Roads around the market were blocked and victims of the fire were taken to hospital, they said.

It is still not known how the fire started. Some residents claimed it was the result of a gas tank explosion in the market’s restaurant, but that has not been confirmed.

Yadanabon is the second largest market in Mandalay. The market is also known as “Skywalk Shopping Mall” and is located between 77th and 33nd/ 34rd streets. The first floor of the market is a shopping mall; the second floor hosts the Trading Association, some restaurants and an information technology center, known as MICT Park. 

Meanwhile, a fire also broke out Monday morning between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. in Hlaing Thar Yar in the outskirts of Rangoon, destroying over 200 homes and leaving some about 3,000 people homeless, according to a source close to a government official. The fire was put out by firefighters in a little over two hours, witnesses say.