KARACHI: Four firefighters and a camera person of a private news channel were injured in a huge blaze that destroyed a three-storey garment factory in New Karachi Industrial Area on Tuesday, police and rescue services officials said.

They said that the fire erupted in the morning, which was controlled after eight hours by around 20 fire tenders. However, cooling work continued till late in the evening.

The officials said that the fire also engulfed two other adjacent factories as well.

Central SSP Zeeshan Shafiq Siddiqi told Dawn that the fire started in a garment factory near Saba Cinema. He said the presence of diesel drums compounded the blaze, which spread and engulfed two more industrial units in the vicinity.

He said the factory building, where the fire erupted, collapsed resulting in injuries to four firefighters and one cameraperson of a private TV channel, covering the incident.

Three-storey building in New Karachi Industrial Area collapses

Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told Dawn that the condition of a fireman, identified as Owais, was critical as he sustained 64pc burns.

Rescue-1122 spokesperson Hassaan Ul Haseeb Khan told Dawn that Owais is their rescue team member.

He said they received information about the fire inside the factory at around 7am. The fire spread rapidly because of the presence of inflammable material, diesel and raw material. A gas pipeline was also passing through it, where an explosion occurred.

He said due to the impact of the fire, the ground-plus three storey factory collapsed and fell down on the firefighters.

He said the fire has weakened the structure of the adjacent thread factory as its building, also ground-plus three, had developed cracks and they have declared it a dilapidated building.

Mr Khan said 20 fire tenders of the KMC Fire Brigade and Rescue-1122 managed to control the fire at around 3pm. However, the cooling process continued.

Regarding the possible cause of the fire, Mr Khan said that the factory management told the firemen that a short circuit caused the fire.

He said over the past one month, 50 fire incidents, including some major ones, had occurred in the metropolis. Around 12 to 13 of the fires occurred in factories or industrial units.

He said it had been observed that a major factor behind the incidents in factories is their poor electrical systems.

Besides, the electrical system was overloaded, as the factory management operated heavy machinery on it. This caused the system to overheat, resulting in a short-circuit failure.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2025