At least 11 people were killed when a massive fire ripped through a four-star hotel in Karachi early Monday.
Reportedly, 70 people suffered injuries in the blaze, which started in Regent Plaza hotel’s kitchen.
According to initial reports, fire started in the hotel’s kitchen and made its way up, trapping guests and staff. Firefighters and rescue officials arrived at the scene and contained the fire within three hours.
The injured were immediately shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. Officials at the hospital stated that of the 70 injured, 30 are in critical condition.
Located at Shara-e-Faisal, the hotel had foreign, as well as local guests who were affected by the fire.
Head of emergency at Karachi’s Jinnah Hospital, Dr Semi Jamali said some foreigners were among those being treated for burns. Three women and two doctors were among those died in the incident.
Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar also arrived at the scene. He said there was no emergency exit in the building.
The cause of fire is not confirmed yet.
Every second factory, hospital and commercial enterprise in Pakistan holds an 18001 certification and has undergone safety audits. But we are missing something here. Quality and Safety auditors` have minted more money during last decade than corrupt politicians owing to lack of oversight bodies. Its just an exercise and you pay and receive certification to win foreign export orders. Its about time government forms an oversight body and starts imposing penalties on Safety Auditing Companies, besides setting up its own Safety Audit teams or outsourcing the same to professionals. This non-sense needs to end asap.
Comments are closed.