KARACHI, Sept 17: A major fire, which broke out in a restaurant on the beach, partially destroyed it in the small hours of Saturday. As the fire broke out, the Village restaurant was evacuated.

According to fire brigade sources, they were informed about the fire at 2:10am. The fire engulfed the entire restaurant within minutes and flames started leaping to sky.

“We dispatched 10 fire tenders to extinguish the fire. The fire fighters started their work and controlled it by 7am,” chief fire officer Kazim Ali said.

The cause of fire was stated to be a short-circuit. The bamboos and wooden work, made in the restaurant to display an environment of a village, fomented the fire, the fire officer said.

He said the building was intact, but furniture and fixtures were gutted.

During initial inquiry, he said the restaurant’s administration claimed that they did not have the fire-extinguishing appliances to control the fire at its initial stage.

The fire tenders were dispatched from the Central Fire Station in Saddar, which took more than half an hour to reach the spot as there was no fire station in the DHA, sources said.

They said the only plot, allocated for the City Government’s fire station near Submarine Chowrangi was taken over by the DHA administration to set up a fire station. However, the sources said the fire station was on papers only and practically it remains idle and was unable to cater the needs of the area. “The entire DHA population has to rely on the city government’s fire brigade,” they added.