Cotton warehouse goes up in flames

An intense fire broke out in a cotton warehouse in Shah Latif Town in the wee hours of Saturday.

The blaze soon spread to engulf the entire warehouse, with flames soaring into the sky.

Labourers who were in the warehouse when the fire erupted said a machine was running there and the blaze was caused by a short circuit.

The police and rescue workers were quick to reach the spot after they were informed of the incident and sought the fire department's help.

Soon after, a fire tender of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) was rushed to the site from the Landhi fire station and another one was dispatched by the Port Qasim Authority.

However, midway through the firefighting operation, the KMC fire tender ran out of water and efforts to extinguish the blaze were disrupted. As a result, the flames, which firefighters had contained to quite an extent, turned fierce again. They were eventually doused when another KMC fire tender reached the spot to assist with the firefighting operation.

The entire warehouse and all goods kept in it, including cotton stocks, were gutted in the fire.

No casualties were reported in the incident.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2021.