Eliava market burns down in Tbilisi
It took firemen and rescuers over three hours to put out a fire that broke out at Tbilisi’s Eliava market late on 2 July. Up to 30 fire&rescue units and a total of 150 firefighters and rescuers were involved in the operation.
No casualties have been reported. One fireman was slightly injured. The fire destroyed a land area of Approximately 2 500 sq.m.
The Eliava market has been operating in Tbilisi since the mid-90s. Makeshift counters and small stores, offering all the materials needed for repair projects, household items, as well as car spare parts, have been replacing each other in this area throughout that period.
The fire broke out in the section were car parts were available for sale. The blaze rapidly covered a huge area, since there were many flammable goods there, including car tires, paints, lubricants, plastic parts etc.
Rescue services received their first report about fire at 9:16 p.m. All stores and counters were already closed at that time.
The cause of the fire is still unknown. The Georgian Interior Ministry has launched a criminal case under Article 187 of the Criminal Code of Georgia (Damage or destruction of another person’s property).
It’s already the second marketplace that has caught fire over the past 6 months. The ‘Children’s World’ shopping mall in Tbilisi also burned down completely in January earlier this year. Dozens of vendors had leased shop counters in the Soviet-time department store. The gold market, where precision jewelry was sold, was also accommodated there. The majority of the vendors sustained considerable losses. Since then, they’ve been demanding compensation from Tbilisi City Hall, regularly organizing protest rallies. The burned down building hasn’t been dismantled yet. What will be built in its place is still unknown.
