Fire erupts at FTC building

A mysterious high intensity fire erupted at a floor of Finance and Trade Centre (FTC) building located in the busiest Sharea-e-Faisal here in the wee hours of Sunday. The fire erupted at around 2:30am on the six floor of the multi-story building that houses offices of different organisations.
"The entire floor has burnt to ashes," Duty Appraisal Fire Brigade Department Waheed told Business Recorder. He feared the entire records, documents, furniture; systems etc. might have been burnt to ashes as the fire was of high intensity. Some 10 fire tenders and two snorkels took part in the rescue operation to extinguish the blaze. The cause of fire and the consequent loss of property is yet to be ascertained. Ibn-e-Hassan, a spokesman of NBP when approached said the bank will come up with a detailed report over the losses as result of the fire, in days to come. "It was Sunday. We don't know how much damage the blaze has done to our offices," he said and refused to give further details.
The building also houses Trade Development Authority' of Pakistan's (TDAP) head office at its 5th floor and 3rd floor, which is safe. However, an official of the export promotion authority confirmed that its IT department has got affected by the incident. The rooms are filled with water that was poured by the rescue teams to eliminate the fire on the immediate upper floor. Windows and doors of other offices on the 7th floor of the structure also got damaged by the inferno, said the fire brigade official. The fire brigade authorities took almost seven hours to douse it. Meanwhile citizens complained that the fire brigade reached the site quite late, a claim rejected by the authorities. The chief fire officer said the NBP office located on the sixth floor was impacted by the flames.