KARACHI: Four firemen were killed and five of their colleagues were injured when a multi-storey building of a factory collapsed early on Thursday morning after its structure was drastically weakened by a fire that had broken out a day earlier in the industrial unit located in New Karachi, officials and rescue services’ workers said.

Four other persons were also injured in the collapse.

Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said: “Four bodies of rescue workers, who died after collapse of the factory near Godhra, Gabol Town, were brought to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital”.

The officials confirmed that all the deceased were firefighters posted at the Shah Faisal Colony station, and their bodies were handed over to their relatives after medico-legal formalities.

The deceased firefighters were identified as Mohsin Sharif, 40, Khalid Shehzad, 40, Sohail Nazeer, 35, and Afzal Mohammed, 55.

Four other people also sustained minor injuries

Dr Syed said that eight injured persons were also brought to the hospital. She described their injuries as ‘minor’, and added that another five injured persons were taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre discharged after being provided first aid.

The police said that the fire had erupted in ‘Usman & Sons’ bedsheet company in Sector-16-B on Shehla Raza Road early on Wednesday morning.

The death of the firefighters shocked their fellow workers who held a protest, before the funeral, over alleged apathy on the part of their employers.

They chanted slogans against the officials and demanded compensation for the martyred firemen and immediate payment of ‘risk allowance’ to all employees of the department.

Talking to protesters, city administrator Dr Syed Saif-ur-Rehman said that this was a tragic incident.

“We will take care of their families and prepare a note sheet today to provide jobs to their near and dear ones,” the administrator pledged.

He said that an exact cause of the fire could not be ascertained as the factory was closed at the time of the incident.

Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori visited the spot.

Speaking to journalists at the site, he assured the affected families of government’s support and termed the deceased firefighters ‘martyrs’.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah also took notice of the incident and sought a report from the labour department.

“This demonstrates a commitment of our fire fighters that they sacrificed their lives while saving the factory,” observed the CM, adding: “They are our heroes”.

The multi-storey building had been weakened due to the fire that had continued to rage for more than 18 hours, officials said.

Central district DC Taha Saleem told Dawn that the fire had erupted at around 7:45am on Wednesday. It was caused by an electrical short circuit and the fire engulfed the entire building.

Since the industrial unit was located in a congested locality, the firefighters faced difficulties in dousing the fire.

Due to narrow streets, snorkel could not be driven close to the place as it required a wide space to move around, he said, and added that 10 fire engines and water bowsers had been employed to accomplish the task by 2am Thursday.

Only a few firemen were present there and the cooling process was almost done when the building collapsed, the DC said.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2023