Pakistan: Over 170 families homeless after Karachi fire in posh locality

Karachi: More than 170 families are facing hardships after being rendered homeless due to a fire at a warehouse of a famous departmental store of Karachi situated on the ground floor of a multi-storied residential building.

The firefighters able to douse the fire on Saturday afternoon after it kept on raging for three days. However, the residents fear they would ever be able to return to their homes. The building is in Block-3 of the posh PECHS neighbourhood.

The 18-storey building has 170 flats that were evacuated soon after the fire started at 11:30am on June 1.

The fire was the first test for the personnel associated with the just launched “Rescue 1122” emergency service in Karachi.

Over one million gallons of water was used during the firefighting operation in which a number of civic agencies took part.

A young male jobseeker lost his life in the fire while emergency medical assistance was given to a few residents of the affected building as their health deteriorated due to suffocation caused by fumes.

A day after the fire broke out the Technical Committee of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) issued an order to declare the building dangerous and unfit for residential purposes.

The SBCA also ordered registration of a criminal case against the owners of the departmental store as they used the basement of the building as a warehouse without any authorisation.

The affected residents of the building said the departmental store should immediately be shifted from the ground floor of their housing facility as it had emerged as a serious safety hazard for them.

They said the basement of the building had been constructed as a parking facility for the residents but it had been illegally given to the departmental store for its use as a warehouse.

The flat occupants said the warehouse had been mainly used for storing cooking oil by the departmental store as the fire had become uncontrollable due to the presence of hazardous material.

No authority from the Sindh government had approached them to ask for their welfare and well-being after being rendered homeles, they claimed.

They said that they had been the residents of a posh locality of Karachi and had been paying heavy property taxes so they shouldn’t be subjected to such a precarious situation.

Karachi Administrator Barrister Murtaza Wahab praised the courage shown by the firefighters and rescue staff during the firefighting and emergency evacuation of the building.

He said the government would ensure utmost assistance to the affected families.