LAHORE: A worker died while eight others were injured in a fire at a shoe factory at Shahdara on Monday.

The fire broke out in the back part of the factory and engulfed the entire unit quickly.

According to the initial reports, the fire spread so fast that the workers had no chance to escape.

The officials said inflammable material, including chemicals and the solutions, contributed to intensifying the blaze.

The eyewitnesses said huge flames and black clouds of smoke were seen billowing from a distance. Some small explosions were also heard and the locals called Rescue 1122.

Eight fire engines took part in the operation. The firefighters could not reach all the workers trapped in the main part of the factory for some time. At last, they managed to recover the body of the worker and rescued eight others but they too had received burns.

The firefighting operation continued for about 10 hours and the cooling process was in progress when this report was filed.

The workers who received burns were shifted to the hospital where the condition of two of them was stated to be serious.

The factory owner suffered a huge loss in the incident as his entire stock of shoes and raw material were reduced to ashes.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2024