Five people die of suffocation after Karachi house catches fire

• Five of a family die of suffocation after house catches fire. 
• Rescue sources say the fire broke out because of a short-circuit.
• One of the deceased, Farhat Mirza, taught at the Jinnah Sindh Medical University.

KARACHI: At least five people, including two women, lost their lives after a fire broke out overnight at their house in Karachi's Mohammed Ali Society, Geo News reported Thursday.

The mishap occurred at a house located on Miran Shah Road, Bahadurabad. The blaze engulfed a house on the first floor of a three-storey building, according to the fire brigade officials.

There were seven individuals present at the house at the time of the accident, said police. Five of them were shifted to a hospital while they were unconscious, the law enforcers said.

The hospital officials said the deceased died of suffocation due to a fire. The victims were aged between 45 and 80 years.

They included 80-year-old Sultan Mirza, 72-year-old Shazia, 78-year-old Sabiha, 60-year-old Farhat Mirza and 45-year-old Akbar, according to officials at the hospital.

Rescue officers said the deadly fire broke out because of a short-circuit.

Farhat Mirza, one of the victims, was a professor at the Jinnah Sindh Medical University, according to sources.

Sadiq Hussain - a member of the firefighting team - sustained injuries while extinguishing the fire, according to the fire brigade. However, his condition is out of danger.

The fire brigade sources said the blaze was doused with the help of three fire tenders. 

The firefighters had difficulty evacuating the residents as the fire was intense, the rescue workers told Geo News.

"There was no way to go inside the house. Hence, we entered the house by breaking the fence to rescue the people," said the rescue personnel.

The rescue workers said five of the residents had lost consciousness due to excessive smokes in their rooms. The fainted people were shifted to the hospital, they added.