According to officials, rescue workers extinguished a fire that started at a residential structure in Shah Faisal Colony Number 3 in Karachi on Wednesday night and recovered one body.
Spokesman for Sindh Rescue 1122 Hassaan Khan said that because of Rescue 1122’s quick action, the fire was contained.
According to him, authorities from Rescue 1122 have entered the building and are conducting a search while simultaneously starting the cooling process.
A 55-year old male was among the deceased who was extracted from the structure, according to Khan.
Rescues have also been made for others who sought safety on the rooftop in order to flee the flames. Khan said that after the cooling process is over, a last search will be carried out.
He said that Rescue 1122’s Central Command and Control arrived to the scene of the event as soon as it received information about the fire, and that a total of five fire brigade vehicles were involved in the rescue effort.
Khan said that the oil-related shop was where the fire started.
Khan had earlier stated, “The skilled Rescue 1122 team is using foam; it is difficult to douse the fire with water”.
Korangi Tawheed Rehman Memon, a Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), also arrived at the scene.
He said that a cigarette thrown close to a gas station caused the fire.
The SSP stated, “Illegal fuel connections have also been the subject of previous action”.
He went on to say that two months prior, action had been taken against this specific gas pump. “The oil and gasoline laborer obtained a court order, ” he declared.
The dead was identified as Sirajuddin, per SSP Memon.
He continued by saying that the matter was still being looked into.
CM of Sindh orders crackdown on unlicensed fuel vendors
Following the event, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah gave orders to expedite the rescue effort.
Additionally, he sent the Karachi Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner Malir instructions to head straight to the scene of the incident.
In a statement, CM House spokesperson Abdul Rasheed Channa stated that “every effort should be made to move people to a safe space.”
According to reports, the CM stated that “the safety of people’s lives and property should be ensured in all cases.”
He also requested to be informed of any new developments.
The statement stated that “an illegal gasoline pump is said to be the main cause of the fire.” “It is appropriate to take legal action against unauthorized fuel vendors.”
According to the statement, “wherever there are illegal, open gasoline businesses like this, a crackdown needs to be initiated.”
The statement claimed that no one has the right to toy with other people’s lives.
As soon as the report is brought under control, CM Murad requested a report.
recurring incidences of fire
An hour-long firefighting operation put out a massive fire that started in an industrial unit in the SITE area on August 16th, according to rescuers.
They stated there had been no reports of fatalities. But in the process of the rescue, one of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s (KMC) firefighters passed out.
A fire that broke out in the Pakistan Stock Exchange building on I.I. Chundrigar Road earlier in July resulted in the safe evacuation of hundreds of individuals and the report of no injuries.
In November, a massive fire in Karachi’s Gulistan-i-Jauhar neighborhood destroyed a six-story commercial building. The fire was attributed to a short circuit, and it resulted in 11 fatalities and 5 injuries. According to the doctors, each victim had suffocated.
A few days following the event, the city commissioner established an influential committee to carry out the same audit of all of the city’s government and commercial facilities.
At a symposium in November, city planners, engineers, and specialists in construction plans were certain that around 90% of Karachi’s structures, including residential, commercial, and industrial ones, lacked firefighting and preventive systems.
They also concurred that millions of people’s lives in the city were at danger due to “criminal negligence” on the part of regulatory agencies like Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA).
The experts cited data showing that every year, fire accidents cause over 15,000 fatalities and over a trillion rupees in losses nationwide. These fires primarily happen in urban areas where most residential, commercial, and industrial structures were built without following established building codes.
Speaking at the symposium, Fawad Barry of Haseen Habib, a company that provides fire safety systems and equipment, stated: “Approximately 150,000 people in Pakistan sustain burn injuries as a result of these fire incidents, in addition to an estimated 15,000 deaths and over a trillion rupees in financial losses.”
