Seven of a family die in fire

The deceased include four children; 21 people pulled to safety from the blaze

DIJKOT:

A fire broke out in a five-story plaza situated in the Sutra Mandi area of the city on Friday, killing seven of a family, most of them children.

The deceased were identified as 60-year-old Abdul Sattar, 42-year-old Umar Farooq, 33-year-old Farhan Abdul Sattar, 11-year-old Mawiya Usman, two-year-old Arush, four-year-old Bilal and six-year-old Noor Fatima, all belonging to the same family.

Rescue teams managed to pull 21 people to safety from the burning plaza. Those who sustained serious injuries were shifted to the Burns Unit of the Allied Hospital.

The cause of the fire, which first broke out on the third floor of the plaza at around four in the morning, was stated to be a short circuit. The fire soon spread to the other floors of the plaza.

Rescue teams arrived at the building as soon as they had been alerted about the fire incident.

Rescue workers had to put in extra effort since smoke and blaze poured from everywhere and the victims were stuck on the upper floors of the plaza. The rescue workers struggled along the sky-high flames and got the people out of the plaza and shifted them to the Burns Unit of the Allied Hospital.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi expressed his grief over the loss of precious lives and ordered the commissioner of Faisalabad for an investigation into the incident.

The Chairman of Sutar Mandi Traders Association, Qaiser Shams Gachha, and others announced complete closure of Sutar Mandi on Saturday (October 8) as a sign of mourning for the death of seven people of a family.

In January this year, at least seven people had died after a house caught fire apparently due to a gas leakage in a village in Toba Tek Singh.

Four other residents of the house were rushed to a hospital in critical condition. The victims who died of burn injuries included four children and a woman of the same family.

Local people had told The Express Tribune that the roof of the house collapsed after the fire broke out.

Residents of the area themselves made efforts to retrieve the bodies from the rubble for half an hour before teams of rescue workers reached the spot. A heavy contingent of police also reached the spot after the incident.

The house owner Muhammad Hassan’s family had allegedly left a stove attached to a gas cylinder burning in a room because of the severe cold weather. While they were sleeping, the fire engulfed both rooms of the house due to gas leakage. As the flames engulfed both rooms rapidly while the residents were asleep, they did not get an opportunity to get out.

News of the incident spread like wildfire in the area and local residents gathered to help retrieve the bodies and rescue the injured from the rubble.

Due to the distance, teams of Rescue 1122 took half an hour to reach the spot. The DSP of Kamalia and SHO of Aruti police station also visited the spot.

A resident of the village, Nadeem, said that when the flames suddenly rose late at night, he thought that a villager might have lit a fire to remain warm, but after a while he heard screams and realised the seriousness of the matter.

The villagers rushed to put out the fire but it had spread to such an extent that it appeared impossible to douse it.

The witness said the villagers still kept trying to put out the fire and rescue the injured. Meanwhile, Rescue 1122 was called.

Six vehicles took part in the rescue operation. By the time the rescue workers arrived, seven people had died on the spot.