The Ministry of Maritime Affairs on Saturday constituted an inquiry committee to investigate the cause of a fire at the Karachi International Container Terminal (KICT) a day earlier.

Imported goods, mostly lithium batteries, stored in at least 20 containers were destroyed as a huge fire erupted at the KICT at the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) on Friday afternoon, according to officials.

A press release issued on Saturday said that Maritime Affairs Minister Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry had constituted an inquiry committee to investigate the cause of the fire and to “fix responsibility to prevent similar incidents in the future”.

The committee will comprise senior officers from KPT, who will coordinate with KICT operators to determine the reasons for the incident, it said.

“KICT is a private terminal and the primary responsibility for safety measures at the container terminal rests with its administration,” the minister was quoted as saying.

The press release further said the minister took immediate notice of the incident and directed all concerned officials, including KPT Chairman Rear Admiral (retd) Shahid Ahmed, to utilise all available resources to bring the blaze under control and also sought a detailed report on the incident.

The statement said the KPT team supervised the firefighting operation and brought the fire under control, adding that no loss of life was reported.

It added that the minister also announced appreciation certificates for members of the KPT team involved in the firefighting operation, and particularly lauded the role of KPT General Manager (Engineering) Rear Admiral Kashif Munir and his team.

He added that the extent of financial losses and the exact cause of the fire were yet to be determined, and that investigations were ongoing, the statement said.

The statement also said that a report by KPT was submitted on the directives of the minister. According to the report, the fire erupted at around 1:35pm near Berth Number 27 at KICT Terminal, Karachi Port.

The incident was reported to KPT Central Fire Brigade and fire tenders were dispatched to the scene, the statement said.

“Upon arrival, it was observed that the fire/smoke was spreading quickly in the closely placed set of containers which were also placed on one another [sic],” it said.

It said that KPT fire tenders responded effectively in containing the fire, while support was also requested from the Pakistan Navy, the Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works and Rescue 1122.

“The report stated a total of eight fire tenders from KPT were deployed on-site, supported by four fire tenders from the Pakistan Navy, one from Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works and two fire tenders from Rescue 1122,” it added.

“Through swift action, effective coordination, and professional handling by all responding teams, the fire was successfully brought under control, preventing its spread and ensuring the safety of port infrastructure and operations,” the press release said.

South DIG Syed Asad Raza told Dawn on Friday that during the initial probe, it emerged that the fire erupted due to a short circuit inside a container.