KARACHI, Jan 15: Five people, including three fire-fighters, were killed and 18 injured on Monday when a four-storey garment factory caved in after a devastating blaze in the Site area.

The fire broke out on the second floor of an export company’s warehouse around 11:15am. The management immediately evacuated over 100 employees present in different sections of the factory as the fire engines immediately rushed the spot.

Four bodies and the injured were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where the dead were identified as Naveed Ahmed, station fire officer of Baldia; Yasir Iqbal, SFO of Nazimabad; fireman Mohammed Javed; and Mohammed Saleem, factory worker.

Body of an unidentified man was still stuck in the rubble as rescue workers continued their operation till our going to press.

An official of the fire brigade said at least a dozen fire engines were used to extinguish the blaze.

While the firemen were still continuing their operation, the factory management hired a bunch of labourers for retrieving the material from the burnt factory. “Around 2:15pm the roof of the factory collapsed trapping the fire-fighters and labourers,” said the town police officer.

He said at least 15 people were still trapped under the debris.

“The rescue work is expected to continue for a couple of days,” a rescue worker said, adding that those trapped under the rubble are feared dead.