Burnt to ashes: Departmental store catches fire in Gulshan-e-Iqbal

Goods worth millions of rupees destroyed, no loss of life reported

KARACHI: Goods worth millions of rupees were burnt when a fire erupted in the basement of a departmental store in Gulshan-e-Iqbal on Thursday. Three fire tenders reached the spot soon after they received the complaint. The fire brigade staff started the cooling process after five hours of fire extinguishing effort.

According to sources, the basement of a building located in KDA Market, Block 3, Gulshan-e-Iqbal suddenly caught fire. The area police and volunteers of rescue teams reached the site immediately.

According to fire department officials, the complaint was received at 10:35am on which the fire brigade staff reached the spot.

The fire occurred in the basement of the store that only had one door. The fire brigade staff had to face extreme difficulty due to the smoke that had formed. Five firemen were affected by the smoke and were given medical aid.

The officials also said that there was a warehouse in the basement where garments and other items were stored. All the items were reduced into ashes. The fire extinguishing task took almost eight hours.

No loss of life occurred as a result of the fire. Gulshan-e-Iqbal SHO Ikhlaq Ahmed said that the fire was caused due to short circuit.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28^th, 2018.