KARACHI, Oct 3: As the losses in the Wednesday’s Lakshmi building fire are yet to be accurately assessed, another fire broke out in the multi-storied Textile Plaza on M. A. Jinnah Road on Thursday night.
The fire broke out on the fourth floor of the nine-storied Textile Plaza, and it soon engulfed the entire floor gutting a yarn godown.
People present in the building said the fire had broken out in the office of an insurance company which soon spread to the neighbouring godown.
Yousuf Khan, an office caretaker, said a few months back a fire had broken out in the same office, but it was immediately controlled.
“This time fire has engulfed the entire fourth floor,” he added.
However, another person said the fire had broken out in the yarn godown which soon spread to other offices.
While putting out the fire three firemen, Zaheer Baba, Sohail and Irfan, inhaled smoke. They were rushed to Civil Hospital where they were given first aid.
The fire, which broke out sometime around 8:45pm, was brought under control by 10:45pm by firemen who worked effectively containing it to only the fourth floor.
As the fire quickly spread on the fourth floor, flames leaped out from the back side of the Textile Plaza blackening the top floors of the building from outside.
Due to excessive heat compressors of airconditioners fixed in the windows of the top floor busted causing explosions.
“Power supply to the building was not disconnected as it would have hampered the firefighting operations,” said a fire officer.
The exposed electric wiring and other cloth godowns located on the rest of the floors would have provided conditions conducive to spreading the fire quickly, another fireman said.
The extent of damage or the number of offices damaged in the fire had not been assessed by the fire brigade till our going to press.
However, the fire consumed a sizable quantity of yarn stored in the godowns on the fourth floor.
The cause of the fire was not ascertained by the agencies concerned when this report was filed on Thursday midnight.
The multi-storied Textile Plaza has offices of insurance companies, banks and cloth merchants.
Another big fire had broken out at a factory in the Landhi Export Processing Zone on Thursday afternoon.
A spokesman for the fire brigade said the fire had broken out in a glove manufacturing factory around 4pm.
Around 10 fire tenders were pressed into service to put out the fire. It was put out around 8pm. The extent of financial losses and the cause of fire could not be immediately ascertained, the chief fire office told Dawn.
On Wednesday noon, a major fire had broken out in Lakshmi Building a few yards away from Textile Plaza, which was brought under control by late Wednesday night.
According to initial reports, the Lakshmi Building fire was caused due to short circuit on the ground floor shop.
The fire brigade has yet to finalize its report on Wednesday’s fire. The chief fire officer earlier told Dawn that the report would be finalized on Friday.
KARACHI, Oct 3: As the losses in the Wednesday’s Lakshmi building fire are yet to be accurately assessed, another fire broke out in the multi-storied Textile Plaza on M. A. Jinnah Road on Thursday night.
