Islamabad: Two people lost their lives and another was severely wounded when a fire erupted in Islamabad’s six-storey Awami Markaz here early Sunday morning.
According to hospital sources, one person, Ali Raza, jumped off the building and then succumbed to his injuries.
The other victim, Waqar, died due to suffocation.
The fire started at around 8am.
The injured person, identified as Umer Ejaz, was taken to the Burns Unit of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), where he was being treated for his injuries.
According to rescue officials the victims were staffers at a call centre located inside the building.
In the morning, the fire fighters had extinguished the fire, which reportedly began because of a short circuit on one of the floors.
The officials said firefighters managed to control the fire within an hour.
Several fire tenders, sky lifts and water bowsers were present at the scene.
However, later in the day, the fire erupted again and started to spread to different floors and even threatened the safety of nearby government buildings in the capital’s Red Zone.
The second wave of flames was caused by strong winds in Islamabad.
Later in the day, fire Tenders of Pakistan Navy arrived at the site to take part in the dousing operation.
Reportedly, the records and equipment of the offices of Federal Tax Ombudsman and Software Technology Park were burnt in the fire.
Despite the daylong efforts, the fire gutted the whole building, which now faces collapse.
Islamabad’s administration has formed a four-member committee, led by the Deputy Commissioner, to report causes of the incident; their deadline is three days.
