KARACHI: A fire broke out in a factory manufacturing cooking oil near Paracha Chowk in Karachi’s Shershah locality late on Friday, DawnNews reported.

No casualties were reported, however, authorities have so far failed to control the fire and reported it as being a third-degree blaze.

All fire brigades of the city, as well the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), were involved in attempting to control the fire. Authorities have also started evacuating nearby factories.

Factory authorities said that the fire started in the ‘filling’ department. However, no staff members were present in the vicinity at the time.

Governor Sindh Dr Ishratul Ebad has ordered Commissioner Karachi Roshan Ali Sheikh and the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) Administrator Mohammad Hussain Saeed to control the fire using all available resources.

Speaking to DawnNews, Saeed said a definite timeframe to extinguish the blaze could not be given.

Due to the excessive smoke spread over a large area of the factory, relief operations were adversely affected. Two firefighters were taken ill due to the excessive smoke and were transferred to a hospital for treatment.

The incident is reminiscent of the recent Baldia Town tragedy and brings to light the ongoing issue of occupational hazards in factories.