Over 500 vehicles gutted in Karachi fire

• Six fire tenders working to contain blaze in central vehicle pool near Karachi's Aziz Bhatti Park
• Fire department says blaze restricted from spreading further.
  
• Say blaze will be doused soon; residential buildings saved.

KARACHI: Over 500 motorcycles, a bus, two rickshaws and six to seven cars kept at a central vehicle pool, commonly known as Nazarat, were reduced to ashes as the bushes near Karachi's Aziz Bhatti Park caught fire.

The fire initially broke out in the bushes, but the flames soon spread to the Nazarat — a place where case property or stolen vehicles are kept after recovery to be presented in court when required — engulfing several cars and other vehicles.

Firefighters and fire tenders were sent to the site soon after the blaze was reported.

"Six fire tenders are working to contain the blaze," the fire department officials said, confirming the number of vehicles lost.

They said that the burning tyres of the vehicles were causing a greater amount of smoke.

The fire has been restricted from spreading further and it will be doused soon, the officials said, adding that firefighting teams were trying to keep the residential apartments safe from the inferno.