Factory fire: Five workers suffocate, critical

Fire starts from an oil leak in a boiler.

FAISALABAD:

Five workers were critical on Thursday after inhaling smoke in a fire at a textile mill.

The fire is said to have started from an oil leak from a boiler.

Rescue 1122 officials said that a boiler at Sitara Textile Mills on Sargodha Road caught fire due to oil leak. The fire spread across the storage area.

Five workers, later identified as Muhammad Ilyas, 26, Qamar Saeed, 26, Ghulam Niaz, 20, Zahid, 21, and Ashfaq, 37, were trapped in a store and fainted from inhaling the smoke.

Rescuers pulled them out after the fire was controlled. They were taken to Allied Hospital, where doctors treating them said that they were in critical condition. They said the men had some burn injuries as well.

Millat Town Station House Officer Kashif Riaz said no complaint was registered against the owners. He said action could not be taken until then. The mill owners were not available for their comments.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2013.