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KARACHI, April 10: A seven-year-old boy died in a fire at a shanty town off Super Highway on Thursday.
The police and the fire department said Sahar Ali, aged seven, suffered serious burns and died before be could be provided medical aid. The body of the boy was recovered after the fire was brought under control. It was sent to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, the police said.
No other casualty was reported. A substantial loss of property was, however, reported. Seventy-five huts were gutted.
The fire broke out in the afternoon in Machhar Colony situated behind Al- Asif Square. It spread quickly engulfing a major portion of the locality.
There are more than 1,500 huts in the settlement. Residents are mostly Afghan nationals. There are some godowns also in the settlement in which trash is stored.
A spokesman for the fire brigade told this reporter that the cause of the fire could not be ascertained immediately.
Initially, fire tenders from the nearby Sohrab Goth fire station reached the spot. Another five fire tenders had to be called in from the Central Fire station and other fire stations of the city.
Fifteen fire tenders took part in the four-hour long fire-fighting operation, the spokesman said.
“Junk, mostly cardboard paper, stored in several godowns further helped spread the fire,” the fire department spokesman said.
Another fire broke out at a squatter settlement in North Nazimabad on Thursday night.
The police said a fire broke out in the huts at block G of North Nazimabad behind the Hyderi police post.
No one was injured.
The police and the fire department said the fire began in some cabins situated among the huts.
A few eucalyptus trees also caught fire. The fire was brought under control before it could spread to the residential area of the shanty town.
On April 8, three children died and four others suffered burns in a fire at a shanty town in Mauripur Road.
More than 60 huts were gutted in Pak Muslim Colony, which is also known as Machhar Colony, a predominantly a fish workers settlement.
‘ENCOUNTER:’ The police shot dead a suspected bandit and arrested his two accomplices in Korangi Industrial Area on Thursday. The police described the incident as an encounter with bandits.
The police said five alleged bandits entered a towel factory owned by Mohammed Iqbal Qadri in Sector 27 at Korangi Industrial Area.
Someone from the factory informed the police on “15.” The information was passed on to the local police.
SHO Korangi Industrial Area Adnan Shahid said when their police mobile reached the spot the suspects were fleeing with a truckload of thread, raw material used in making towels.
When the alleged bandits saw the police party, they opened fire on them. The police returned the fire, killing one of the suspects, later identified as Amir Nawaz. They also arrested two of the other alleged bandits, Taj Wali and Riaz Ahmed.
The police claimed to have recovered two pistols and five rounds from the possession of the alleged bandits.
The three other alleged bandits escaped under the cover of fire.
The police also recovered the truck (LFA-720) and the looted goods.
Amir Nawaz’s body was sent to Jinnah Post-graduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for post-mortem.
SUICIDE: A young man who had attempted to commit suicide in his house at Saeedabad on March 2 died in a hospital on Thursday.
The police said Sajid, aged 21, consumed a lubricant used in automobiles in his house at Saeedabad. He was admitted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where he died.
