The fire began on Union Street in a vape shop, quickly spreading to nearby businesses and forcing the closure of Glasgow Central Station.
Arslan, the shop owner who was not present at the time, is seeking answers about how the fire started.
Glasgow Central is set to be closed for a second day, according to Network Rail. (Image: Supplied)
Speaking to the Scottish Sun, he said: “I am in grief at whatever has happened.
“It’s a hurtful and disappointing accident.
“Whatever it is that happened, it shouldn’t be happening.
“I am so upset and I don’t want to talk about it.”
The incident triggered major evacuations of nearby hotels and buildings, with the fire rapidly spreading through Forsyth House and causing extensive damage to surrounding businesses.
Witnesses reported hearing a loud bang, with some claiming the shop had “exploded.”
More than 200 firefighters were deployed to tackle the blaze, which led to the collapse of parts of the building and threatened the nearby railway infrastructure.
The city’s main rail hub was closed to all passengers shortly before 6pm and remains shut.
Lamin Kongira, who tried to tackle the fire which broke out in a building adjacent to Glasgow Central railway station on Sunday. (Image: PA)
He was walking past when he saw the smoke and someone running out of the shop.
He went inside to see what was happening and saw a fire behind the counter, possibly coming from a socket box.
There was no fire extinguisher inside, so he ran to another shop to get one. He tried to use it, but the fire was too strong and he heard loud bangs. He had to get out.
Footage circulating online shows Lamin trying to keep people back as thick smoke poured from the shop front.
The height of the fire on Glasgow’s Union Street (Image: Supplied)
Callum Robertson, 18, also arrived at the scene shortly after the fire broke out at around 3.45pm and also attempted to help.
He said: “We came down the stairs out of the station and we saw this guy running out of the shop and he was like ‘there’s a fire.’
“I peeked my head through and saw the flames.
“I ran across the road to a shop but they didn’t have an extinguisher.
“Then I went into Subway and they gave me a foam extinguisher but I couldn’t get the pin off it.
“I got one from SexyCoffee but it was a water extinguisher and I didn’t want to spray it because I thought the fire might have been electrical.
“Some guy took it off me, went into the shop and tried to spray it but we could see the flames were getting bigger so we told him to get out.
“Just after that, a massive explosion happened.
“We were a block away – like 50 yards.”
Callum and his friend Aydin Boyd, who had travelled into the city to get pizza, were caught up in the chaos.
Callum Robertson and his friend Aydin Boyd, who had travelled into the city to get pizza, were caught up in the chaos. (Image: SWNS)
He said: “I was worried about the people up top because there are flats above it (the shop).
“When we got there it (the fire) was just small.
“It could have been put out by a fire extinguisher but by the time I got one it had gone up so much.”
As the flames took hold, large parts of the building were destroyed and the nearby rail station remains closed.
The full extent of the damage is still being assessed, and investigations into the cause of the fire are ongoing.
