RAWALPINDI: An employee of a restaurant died from suffocation when a fire broke out in a multi-storey building in Saddar on Friday.

Talah Akram, 31, a native of Faisalabad, who was associated with the restaurant as a cashier, was sleeping on the third floor of the building when the fire broke out making it difficult for him to escape.

According to police, Rescue 1122 was informed about the fire in the building located on Adamjee Road, Saddar.

Firefighters reached the spot and put out the flames. However, they found a young man lying unconscious in the building, the police said.

He was shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) where he was pronounced dead from suffocation.

Later, the police contacted the heirs of the deceased and informed them about the incident. The police said the fire was caused by an electric short circuit.

A trader in the neighborhood of the building told Dawn that local traders had many times complained to the police as well as the district administration about the restaurant, New Jazeera Food, for using gas cylinders which they considered as dangerous.

But none of the concerned authorities have taken the matter seriously.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2024