KARACHI: A fire broke out at the historic Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) building on Tuesday and completely gutted the office of Karachi Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab, officials said.

There were no casualties, and fire tenders sent to the site brought the fire under control, Rescue 1122 spokesperson Hassaanul Haseeb Khan said.

Talking to the media outside his damaged office on the first floor of the KMC building, Mayor Wahab said: “There was no loss of life. My room has been completely gutted by the fire, and all the furniture has been destroyed.”

“Because of the timely action, my chamber, which is adjacent to the room, was protected, and the conference room was also kept safe,” he added.

He said that a spark occurred at around 9:15am. “Whether it was a short circuit or something related to the AC, all aspects are being looked into”.

Clarifying that there were no records or files in his room, he said: “Files only come to me for signatures; I sign and pass orders on them, after which they are sent to the relevant department. If there are any files with me at all, they are only those on which my signature is pending.”

The mayor highlighted that the KMC staff immediately called the fire brigade and the fire team succeeded in confining the blaze to his room.

Meanwhile, rescue workers managed to control the fire that erupted in a garment factory and spread to another at Karachi Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) on Monday afternoon.

However, cooling work and removal of material continued till late on Tuesday night.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2026