At least five people including two minors were killed on Thursday when a fire broke out in slums in the area of Gulistan-i-Jauhar, said a police official.
A contingent of fire brigades was immediately dispatched to the site of the incident. The fire claimed five lives by the time it was brought under control.
According to details of the victims provided by SSP East Javed Jiskani, Minhaj, 20, Shahida, 100, Rabia, 15, Sarfaraz, 12 and Mohsin, 8, died in the unfortunate incident. Police and fire brigade officials stated that the fire erupted in Gulistan-i-Jauhar’s Block 2 and gutted at least 70 slums in the locality. Fire officials, however, claimed that they had managed to save scores of huts in the same area. The local residents came out of their houses following an emergency announcement from the local mosques. The officials declared it an accident and ordered an inquiry into the incident.
It was still unclear what caused the fire with officials stating that the reason could only be determined after an investigation into the matter was conducted.
Meanwhile, Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan has taken notice of the fire in huts in Gulistan-i-Jauhar. In a statement on Thursday he expressed sorrow and grief over the loss of five lives in the inferno.The governor directed the commissioner to hold inquiry to determine the cause of blaze. He also directed that immediate medical assistance be made available to those who sustained injuries in the incident.The governor sympathised with those who lost their near and dear ones in the fire. Joint Director of Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Dr Seemi Jamali, said five bodies were brought to the JPMC. An official of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation said that nine persons sustained injuries in the fire incident.
