KARACHI: Five persons, including two children, suffered burns in a huge fire that erupted in a candle factory in the Sher Shah area on Wednesday evening and destroyed the industrial unit as well as two nearby warehouses and four residential properties, officials said.

South DIG Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that the fire broke out in the candle manufacturing factory located on Jinnah Road and spread rapidly to nearby properties.

Industrial unit, two adjacent godowns and four houses gutted

Rescue-1122 spokesperson Hassaan Ul Haseeb Khan said 10 fire tenders managed to control the blaze after several hours. He said the cooling work continued till late at night.

He said the factory, four nearby houses and two warehouses were completely destroyed in the fire.

He said that five persons suffered burns and a sixth one was hit by falling structure.

He said a charged crowd gathered at the scene as residents were trying to take their valuables out of the houses.

He said the exact cause of the inferno was yet to be known. However, a factory employee told firemen that the blaze started because of short circuit.

Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told Dawn that Sakina, 35, and her husband Sher Mohammed, 40, Rehmat Taj, 35, Umm-i-Habiba, 5, and her younger brother, Wali Mohammed, 3, were brought to the Burns Centre of the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi for treatment.

“They all are stable,” she said.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2025