GUJRANWALA: A railways warehouse in Haripur area of Wazirabad housing wooden sleepers and their scrap caught fire on Sunday and it took firefighters some 20 hours to control the blaze.

Sources said teams of Railways, Municipal Corporation, Wazirabad tehsil administration, police and Rescue 1122 struggled for over 15 hours but could not douse the fire. Deputy Commissioner Suhail Ashraf along with other officers reached the scene and sough help from the Pakistan Army.

An army team reached the spot under the supervision of Colonal Javed. It called an army helicopter which showered the warehouse with chemical mixed in water that controlled the fire.

Talking to Dawn, Pakistan Railways’ Open Line Chief Engineer Shah Rukh said fire erupted in the department’s Haripur Bund between Gujranwala and Wazirabad rail section was extinguished after almost 20 hours with the help of Pakistan Army.

Fire controlled after 20 hours

“Initial estimate of the loss ranges between Rs1.5 to 2 million since it was the wooden scrap that was burnt to ashes. Similarly, trees and bushes were also burnt to ashes in the area,” he maintained.

“Fortunately our entire stock of wooden sleepers narrowly escaped the fire,” he added. He rejected reports of setting the scrap on fire intentionally just to stop some inquiries into alleged corruption. “These reports are absolutely false and baseless.”

Mr Shah Rukh was of the view that there should be a high level inquiry into the fire incident.

CASE: City police officer Gohar Mushtaq Bhutta has got registered a case on Sunday against two constables for picking up a fight with a shopkeeper in Kashmir Mahal Cinema street over a minor issue.

Police have arrested constables Adnan and Saeed posted in Satellite Town Police Station.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2020