KARACHI: The entire nation is in mourning due to the fires which broke out in Karachi and Lahore. As far as the causes of the Karachi fire are concerned, it is being said that there were various explosions inside the building before the fire erupted. Another version is that the owner failed to pay up extortion money and as a result, the factory was burnt to ashes. I sincerely hope that the investigation committee formed to investigate the incident will dig out the facts and discover the true cause of the fire.
I want to condemn the utter failure of the factory owners/management to handle the situation. There was only one entry and exit door in the entire factory. Many teenage boys and girls were working in the factory, which is a clear violation of labour laws. One source has quoted that this was the fourth fire in the factory. Despite this, there was no disaster recovery plan whatsoever. Ventilation was very poor in the factory that led to many people dying of suffocation. Metal grills were fitted to the windows (to supposedly prevent theft), which ruled out any chance of the victims escaping through the windows. Many bodies were found near the windows, which paints a tragic picture of people trying to break the windows but failing in their efforts and dying.
This clearly shows that the owners, despite the poor building structure and absence of safety procedures/equipment, were bent upon increasing their wealth at the cost of poor people who worked for them. It is also the fault of the relevant government departments who did not take any action against the factory owners despite their violation of safety procedures. This matter needs to investigated in the most transparent way possible and the culprits must be punished. Further, it should be ensured that all other factories/industrial units in the country have safety equipment installed, disaster recovery procedures in place and proper ventilation so that such accidents/tragedies may be avoided in the future.
Muhammad Ibrahim
Published in The Express Tribune, September 14th, 2012.
