KARACHI, March 6: A fireman died of cardiac arrest triggered by smoke inhalation while taking part in the fire fighting operation in Cattle Colony on Sunday.

Chief fire officer Kazim Ali told Dawn that the fire had broken out in at least 20 cattle pens. He said that fireman Moinuddin suffered cardiac arrest while performing his duty. He was provided CPR on the spot. However, he succumbed to his wounds on way to the hospital. The victim has left behind four children and a widow, the CFO added.

According to the CFO, firemen released all the trapped cattle which were tied in the pens. Thus, none of the cattle died of the fire, but suffered burns. Almost all the fire tenders of the city government were called to control the fire due its magnitude which had spread to more than a dozen pens.

The fire that had broken out at around 1pm was brought under control by 4pm. Kazim Ali said though precise cause of the fire could not be ascertained, it was being suspected that it was caused due to a short circuit in one of the cattle pens. Cattle Colony has been a site of frequent fires in the past in which a large number of cattle have died. But no serious attempts have been made by the cattle pen owners in adopting precautionary measures.