Fire erupted in the basement of an eight-storey residential building near Baloch Colony Pull in Karachi on Thursday.Chief Fire Officer Humayun Khan said that the fire broke out at 5:00 early in the morning in the Index Plaza.Giving further details, he said that five fire brigade vehicles and two snorkels were sent to the site to douse the blaze.

“When the fire broke out, people were asleep at that time,” he said, and added that the condition of several residents deteriorated after the building was filled with smoke. The officer informed that the flames had been extinguished while the cooling process was underway.He said that the cause of the fire could not be ascertained as yet.  Spokesman for the Rescue 1122 said that more than 100 people had been rescued.

On the other hand, IGP Sindh Javed Alam Odho ordered the police officials to reach the site of the incident so that the building, its inmates as well as those living in its surroundings could remain safe. Incidents of fire have become quite common in the port city as only recently, close to 80 lives were lost in an inferno that erupted at Gul Plaza.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)