The deputy commissioner of Lahore on Saturday submitted an investigation report to the Punjab government regarding the fire incident at a construction company’s labourer quarters.
According to the report, the fire in the labourers’ quarters was caused by a short circuit on an upper floor of the building where the labourers sleep after completing their shift.
The report states that gas cylinders placed in the room exploded after catching fire, resulting in the loss of seven lives.
More than 250 workers hired by Habib Construction Company to work on the Orange Line Metro Train project lived on the residential site in Mehmood Booti area of Lahore.
The report claims that the first rescue van arrived only six minutes after the incident but the first fire tender arrived after 23 minutes. “Most of the labourers died due to suffocation” the report reads, and further states that forensic examination of the incident will be required to conclusively reach the cause of the fire.
Last Wednesday, at least seven labourers died, while at least 14 received severe burns when a fire erupted in their quarters. At the time of the incident, around 25 labourers who worked the evening shift were asleep on the third floor where the fire broke out.
