The presence of plastic shoes and chemicals in the factory made matters worse. STOCK IMAGE
Fire broke out at a single storey commercial building in Rawalpindi gutting a shoe factory in the jurisdiction of the New Town Police Station on Tuesday.
The factory located in Khayaban-e-Sir Syed and owned by 47-year-old Gul Daraz, manufactured plastic shoes.
“Apparently the fire broke out due to a short circuit that engulfed the whole factory in no time,” said Sajid Khan, a worker in the factory. The building filled in with smoke and the fire made it difficult for them to shift anything, he added.
The presence of plastic shoes and chemicals in the factory made matters worse.
The fire had spread so much that it took rescue officials over an hour to extinguish it. “We have dispatched five fire fighting trucks to bring the situation under control,” said Waqas Rahman, a rescue 1122 official.
Nothing in the factory could be saved inflicting an estimated loss of around Rs0.5 million on the owner, said a factory worker.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 18th, 2015.
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