Four of a family killed in Hijrat Colony blaze

Area residents say flames spread due to delay in arrival of fire tenders; fire dept refutes claim

KARACHI:

A sudden blaze engulfed a residential four-storey building in Hijrat Colony early Saturday morning, resulting in the deaths of four members of a family while seven others were injured.

The flames, initially limited to the upper floors, spread rapidly to envelope the ground floor, which housed a dairy and tailor shop, as well.

Meanwhile, residents on the second and third floors were shifted to safety, but those on the first floor found themselves trapped.

Among them, 26-year-old Awais jumped from the building to escape the fire. As a result, he was severely injured and was rushed to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

Later, eight members of a family were found in critical condition on the first floor. They were shifted to Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital's burns ward, where 55-year-old Ishrat, her daughter-in-law Waseela, 25, and her infant granddaughter, Ayat, died. Separately, the burnt body of Ishrat's son, Sheharyar, was found in the building.

The remaining members of the family, including Muhammad Talib, Tauqeer, Sumbal and Shahzeb, sustained injuries.

Moreover, Irshad and his two children, Farmeena, 20, and Abdul Haseeb, 10, were also injured.

According to area residents, the fire broke out due to a short circuit on the mezzanine floor, soon after Fajr. However, fire department officials said the cause fire could not be determined immediately.

Rescue operation

Soon after the incident was reported, police and rescue workers sought the fire department's assistance. While just one fire tender was initially sent, the extinguishing operation was expedited after the arrival of two more fire tenders. However, the narrow streets and crowds of bystanders posed a hurdle in the way of the operation. After approximately two hours, the blaze was doused.

Area residents claimed that the fire tenders arrived after a delay of half an hour, due to which the flames engulfed the building. It could have been contained had the help arrived in time, they said.

On the other hand, fire department officials claimed they were informed of the blaze at 6:07am and a fire tender reached the site within minutes, but the fire had already intensified.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, Septe0mber 13^th, 2020.