Death-filled neighbourhood runs out of shamianas

Entire families worked at the garment factory.

KARACHI: They have run out of shamianas in the neighbourhood behind the factory where a large chunk of the workers lived. 

“There are so many dead from this area that there is a shortage of tents and rugs,” said one resident. “People are offering their condolences standing up.”

The neighbourhoods, Delhi Colony, Kumarwara, Bangloripara, are joined by Mir Alam Road where every morning the men and women, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, would set off on foot for the garment factory. Some would stitch, others would operate the machines. They lived close enough to go home for lunch.

Since Tuesday evening, 54 people have not returned home alive.

In one such home, sitting outside on the porch was an elderly Naseema, who beat her chest in sorrow for her son Shahid. The youngster died in the basement that was said to have filled with boiling water and flames. “The owner locked the door to protect his wealth. But he took away my wealth. He took away my son,” she cried. Left alone to take care of two sons when her husband went to Malaysia and never looked back, she swept floors and stitched clothes to make a living.

“I made sure that he never went to sleep hungry. And he died such a horrible way. I did not have the strength to see his body.”

A few lanes down is the house of three sisters and a brother who were among seven of a family to die in the fire. The weeping woman sat around Rehana, their mother, who is heavily sedated. The family had moved from Hyderabad to Karachi four years ago - the girls opting to work in the factory because of its proximity. “They were saving money for their weddings,” said their uncle Nadeem.

Two aunts and a cousin also perished in the fire. “For the past three days, we have been going from one hospital to another but we haven’t received their bodies,” he said.

Many married couples worked together at the factory. Abdul Ghani lost his wife Nasreen. Clutching his nine-month-old baby in their small rented house, he said that they had been working there for more than ten years. He didn’t go back to work that ill-fated day because he felt sick after lunch. “I think God saved me to take care of my two children.” He recognised Nasreen’s charred body by her nosepin.

In some instances, both husband and wife were swallowed up by the flames. Javed and Samina have left behind three children.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2012.