At least two people were killed, and 32 others injured after a fire broke out in a warehouse of firecrackers near Taj Complex building on MA Jinnah Road in Karachi on Thursday.
Chief Police Surgeon Karachi Summaiya Syed Tariq had said 30 got injured and four others critically wounded in fire-crackers storage depot fire incident in Garden area.
Two of the four critical later passed away.
In a post on her X account, Summaiya had said 20 injured had been brought to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and 14 at SMBB Institute of Trauma.
Rescue officials said the Central Command and Control received an alert and immediately dispatched a fire and rescue team, along with one ambulance and two fire tenders, to the site.
Fourteen people of the injured taken to JPMC for treatment were identified as workers aged between 19 and 50, namely, Fida Hussain, Arshad, Adnan, Deen Muhammad, Yekdish Kumar, Ayub, Abid, Hanif, Saeed, Muhammad Saleem, Kashif, Ammar, Hammad, and Vijay, the Edhi spokesperson said.
Firefighting efforts were underway till the filing of this report, the spokesperson added.
Sindh CM, home minister seek investigation report on fire incident
Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and Home Minister Zia ul Hassan Lanjar have sought investigation report on the warehouse fire incident.
The chief minister directed the relevant organisations to take immediate measures to control the fire as soon as possible to avoid any loss of life.
“An emergency should be declared in the hospitals and the injured should be provided medical assistance right away,” he maintained.
CM Murad also sought a detailed report on the incident and stated that the cause of the fire should be determined once it is extinguished, and action must be taken against those found negligent or responsible.
Seeking details of the mishap, Lanjar directed the DIG South to dispatch police contingent to rescue the injured and shift them to a nearby hospital.
The home minister also directed police to submit the investigation report at their earliest.
“Statements of the injured, along with the evidence available at the scene, should be made part of the investigation. Keep me abreast of the investigation’s progress,” he directed.
He also ordered police to check whether the godown owner had a license to manufacture firecrackers or not.