Karachi factory fire under control after 8 hours

KARACHI: A fire in a factory located in the Karachi Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) was controlled eight hours after it broke out on Saturday.

The apparel recycling factory, spread over a 1000 yards, sustained a third-degree fire, however, no casualties were reported.

Fire trucks reached the premises half an hour after the fire department was contacted at 3.45 AM.  

"The gatekeeper was found sleeping when KEPZ officials entered the premises," Chief Fire Officer Tehseen Siddiqui told Geo News.

According to fire brigade officials, 13 fire tenders, two water bowsers, one snorkel, and one fire tender were deployed to extinguish the fire.

“We have managed to contain sixty percent of the fire. Efforts to extinguish the remainder are underway," Siddiqui told Geo News. 

Earlier on March 11, a fire that broke out in a garment factory in Landhi Industrial area was extinguished after an 18-hour-long rescue operation.

On December 8, 12 people were killed and more than 110 injured in a blaze in a private hotel at Shahrah-e-Faisal. According to hotel sources, the fire broke out at 3 AM in the kitchen located in the basement of the hotel and travelled through the air conditioning ducts, engulfing a major part of the hotel in flames.