Blaze at Karachi Fish Harbour swallows eight vessels

Water shortage delays extinguishing operation

KARACHI:

A blaze erupted in the shipyard at Karachi Fish Harbour in the wee hours of Tuesday, with the flames swallowing at least eight vessels and large quantities of wood in the aftermath of delays in the fire-extinguishing operation.

Soon after the fire erupted, police and Rangers personnel reached the site to initiate rescue efforts, however, the arrival of fire tenders was delayed, said people present at the spot.

Initially, three fire tenders of the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and one of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) had reached the site but all of them ran out of water soon. After waiting for water bowsers to no avail, rescue personnel left with fire tenders to get more water. As a result, the operation remained suspended for at least 40 minutes.

Consequently, eight vessels, including two freighters, and large quantities of wood were gutted. According to the vessels’ owners, the burnt freighters were worth around Rs20 million, while other gutted vessels were worth approximately Rs10 million to Rs15 million.

Later, the extinguishing operation was resumed, with the employment four KPT fire tenders, three KMC fire tenders and one fire tender of the Pakistan Navy.

Meanwhile, a water tanker was also called to the site, keeping in view the possibility of water shortage.