Cardboard factory gutted in fire

Cardboard worth millions of rupees were burnt to ashes when a fire broke out in a factory in Gulistan Colony due to short circuit.

Rescue 1122 teams reached the spot and managed to control the fire after several hours. Sources revealed that the fire broke out in the packing cardboard factory at Hashmat Chowk in the wee hours of Thursday due to short circuit.

The fire engulfed the cardboard and raw material and burnt them to ashes.

Four teams of Rescue 1122 reached the spot and controlled the fire. Sargodha Road police reached the spot after the incident.

Earlier, in June, at least four workers died after a huge fire broke out in an oil depot on Abbaspur Road in the Sudhar area. The bodies of the workers charred in the blaze were retrieved, while four others were shifted to a local hospital with severe burn injuries.

Rescue 1122 teams and 16 fire engines reached the site of the incident to extinguish the fire. The blaze engulfed the oil drums in different parts of the depot with the workers trapped on the premises.

Over 30 employees were working at the place and 25 of them were rescued safely.

District Emergency Officer (DEO) Ahtisham Wahla said the oil depot was operating illegally.

“Neither the district administration nor police were aware of this depot working in the area. There were no safety measures in place at the depot to protect the property and the workers from an accident,” he said. The depot was situated away from the populated area of the city.

District administration and police officers monitored the rescue operation. The owner of the oil depot managed to escape.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2020.