KARACHI: A factory worker burned to death when a fire broke out in the Vita textile mills in the Sohrab Goth industrial area early Thursday morning, according to fire brigade and police officials.

They said the blaze erupted in the towel factory around 4am. Two fire tenders after hectic efforts put out the fire at 9am, said the official.

Fire brigade chief Ihtishamuddin told Dawn that the factory worker died from an electric shock and not from burn injuries.

Superhighway Industrial SHO Rana Haseeb Ahmed corroborated his views. He said when the police party reached there, they found the ‘munshi’ of the factory, Abid Fazil, 32, dead on the rooftop with electric wires wrapped to his body. The short-circuit might have caused the fire, added the officer. The body was shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH), where additional police surgeon Dr Abdul Haq said Abid had sustained 80 per cent burns. The victim, father of two children, was a resident of Surjani Town.