Haphazard efforts: Security guard killed as fire engulfs Clifton building
Clifton Diamond caught fire twice, once at 3am and then at 2pm
The back of the third floor of the glass building, Clifton Diamond, caught fire on Saturday night and was controlled at around 9am. A large fire once again broke out on Sunday at around 2pm on the top floor of the building. PHOTO: AYESHA MIR/EXPRESS
KARACHI:
Ahsan Idrees stood beneath the 10-storey building in Clifton, looking at his office being burned in front of his eyes. Wearing a sombre look, he said, "It's sad that the fire department does not have sufficient equipment to control the fire at such a height."
A security guard died and 13 others were rescued from the 10-storey office building in Clifton as a fire broke out in the wee hours of Saturday night.
The back of the third floor of the glass building, Clifton Diamond, caught fire at around 3am on Saturday night. "It was controlled at around nine in the morning and had spread till the 8th floor at the time," said Karachi Metropolitan Corporation's chief fire officer Tehseen Ahmed.
Ahmed told The Express Tribune that they handed over the building to the building management after extinguishing the fire. He added the building management also ensured that there was no fire left on Sunday morning.
Fire engulfs residential building in Karachi
His claims were refuted by one of the owners of an office on the top floor, who said, "The rescue workers rushed away right after the photo session with the local government minister Jam Khan Shoro in the morning." He added that when they left the smoke was still coming out of the building. When asked about the smoke, rescue workers said that the office is being 'cooled down'.
The fire department's claims proved false, as a large fire once again broke out on Sunday afternoon around 2pm on the top floor of the building. "Panic was evident on the faces of the workers of the fire department who had ill-equipped gear," said a resident of a building adjacent to Clifton Diamond, who had to vacate their home as soon as the fire broke out.
According to one of the office owners on the second floor of the building, Rehan Hussain, the fire was partially controlled from the third to seventh floors and security guards deployed inside the building were rescued using a lift attached to the truck till the seventh floor, since the machine could not go any further. "While two to three guards jumped to the lift from the 10th floor with the help of rope tied to the roof and lift, unfortunately one guard, Rashid, who was rescued from the fifth floor, died as soon as he was rescued," related Hussain.
He said the fire erupted in an electrical duct situated outside the building and engulfed the offices within. According to him, the fire tenders were unable to control the fire on the higher floors of the building.
The police also reached the site and inquired about the fire, however, they failed to ascertain any criminal motives behind the incident. Police officials said that, according to initial investigations, the fire erupted accidently and that a case would be registered if any evidence of arson was found.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 27th, 2016.
Ahsan Idrees stood beneath the 10-storey building in Clifton, looking at his office being burned in front of his eyes. Wearing a sombre look, he said, "It's sad that the fire department does not have sufficient equipment to control the fire at such a height."
A security guard died and 13 others were rescued from the 10-storey office building in Clifton as a fire broke out in the wee hours of Saturday night.
The back of the third floor of the glass building, Clifton Diamond, caught fire at around 3am on Saturday night. "It was controlled at around nine in the morning and had spread till the 8th floor at the time," said Karachi Metropolitan Corporation's chief fire officer Tehseen Ahmed.
Ahmed told The Express Tribune that they handed over the building to the building management after extinguishing the fire. He added the building management also ensured that there was no fire left on Sunday morning.
Fire engulfs residential building in Karachi
His claims were refuted by one of the owners of an office on the top floor, who said, "The rescue workers rushed away right after the photo session with the local government minister Jam Khan Shoro in the morning." He added that when they left the smoke was still coming out of the building. When asked about the smoke, rescue workers said that the office is being 'cooled down'.
The fire department's claims proved false, as a large fire once again broke out on Sunday afternoon around 2pm on the top floor of the building. "Panic was evident on the faces of the workers of the fire department who had ill-equipped gear," said a resident of a building adjacent to Clifton Diamond, who had to vacate their home as soon as the fire broke out.
According to one of the office owners on the second floor of the building, Rehan Hussain, the fire was partially controlled from the third to seventh floors and security guards deployed inside the building were rescued using a lift attached to the truck till the seventh floor, since the machine could not go any further. "While two to three guards jumped to the lift from the 10th floor with the help of rope tied to the roof and lift, unfortunately one guard, Rashid, who was rescued from the fifth floor, died as soon as he was rescued," related Hussain.
He said the fire erupted in an electrical duct situated outside the building and engulfed the offices within. According to him, the fire tenders were unable to control the fire on the higher floors of the building.
The police also reached the site and inquired about the fire, however, they failed to ascertain any criminal motives behind the incident. Police officials said that, according to initial investigations, the fire erupted accidently and that a case would be registered if any evidence of arson was found.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 27th, 2016.