At least one dead in blast, fire in Karachi neighbourhood

KARACHI: A blaze that erupted in a residential building in PECHS Block 6 after a blast on Wednesday was contained after an hour and a half of rescue efforts.

According to the fire brigade personnel, as many as three fire tenders reached the spot to douse the flames.

Police said one body has been recovered from the site, and the security watchman of the building has also been injured in the incident. 

Eight to nine workers are employed at the warehouse, where cosmetics were being made and stored, according to sources.

Rescue officials said the blast, which occurred before the fire spread, caused windows of nearby buildings to shatter and the adjoining wall of a school to collapse. 

Officials of the bomb disposal squad and Counter-Terrorism Department are on site for investigating the cause of the blast and subsequent fire. 

Earlier, on September 1, high flames at the shoe factory in Karachi's SITE area were doused after 17 hours, firefighting officials said. Fire had broken out and engulfed the building.

A few workers in the factory had allegedly set fire to a chemical drum— leading to the blaze—following an altercation with the accounts department overpayment of salary, Chief Fire Officer Tehseen Siddiqui claimed.

Twelve fire tenders and two water bowsers were deployed at the site to help douse the fire.