Blaze erupts in three-storey building

A fire erupted in a three-story building, housing a wooden furniture workshop on the ground floor, and cloth and shoe factories on the upper floors, near Lasbela Chowk on Thursday.

As a result, furniture and other goods were burned to ashes. Six fire tenders and four Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) water tankers were sent to the site to control the blaze, which took two hours.

Saddar fire station in-charge Zaheer Ahmed Siddiqui stated the fire had erupted on the ground floor but soon engulfed the upper floors. While some craftsmen were sleeping inside the building, they were safely evacuated and no casualties were reported, he added. He further said the narrow, congested lanes had hampered rescue efforts.

Area resident Zahid told The Express Tribune wooden furniture worth Rs250,000 was moved inside the building hours before the incident and was destroyed. The cloth factory, too, was burnt completely, but the second floor suffered only partial damage, he related.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2020.