Factory fire victims remembered

LAHORE:

The Emergency Services Department marked the anniversary of the Karachi Baldia Town and Lahore Bund Road factory fires, which occurred on September 11, 2012, claiming the lives of 314 people.

The incidents were likened to Pakistan’s 9/11. An event was organized at the Emergency Services Academy to commemorate the victims of the fire emergencies in Lahore, Karachi and New York.

The participants observed a minute of silence and prayed for the victims. Emergency Services Secretary Dr Rizwan Naseer briefed the trainee rescuers about the tragic incidents and shared lessons learned to enhance their understanding of challenging rescue and firefighting operations.

He referred to the incidents as Pakistan’s 9/11, where nearly 300 lives were lost in consecutive factory fires in Baldia Town in Karachi and Bund Road in Lahore.

Read Death penalty for two upheld in Baldia factory fire case

Dr Naseer highlighted that the fire service of Rescue 1122 had saved assets worth over Rs650 billion by responding to more than 217,000 fire incidents across the province through timely and professional firefighting.

He emphasised that the Punjab Emergency Service Department has established modern fire services in all districts of Punjab and continues to organise fire safety awareness and training for owners and employees of high-rise and high-risk buildings.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2023.