• Officials say dozens of people rushed to safety on their own, 12 evacuated safely
• Two floors of the 13-storey building completely destroyed
• Eight fire tenders, two snorkles put out blaze in hours

KARACHI: Around 12 people were safely evacuated during a huge fire that erupted on the fourth floor of decades old Rimpa Plaza on main M.A. Jinnah Road, on Tuesday, officials said.

The fire completely destroyed two floors of the multi-storey building and as many floors partially. Several shops, cabins and warehouses were destroyed in the fire.

However, no one was hurt in the incident, officials added.

The blaze that started at 12 noon was brought under control after several hours of efforts, the officials said.

DIG-South Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that they received information about the eruption of fire in an auto shop located on the fourth floor.

Eight fire tenders of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and Rescue-1122 and two snorkels were initially used in the firefighting efforts, he added. During the process, one more snorkel was called in from the Cantonment Board and a Navy rescue and firefighting team also joined in.

Both the fourth and fifth floors of the building were completely gutted by the fire.

Rescue-1122 official Hassaan Khan said they had rescued around 12 people from the 4th and 5th floors while around 40-50 people had left the building by themselves for safety.

The blaze was put out and ‘cooling work’ continued till late in the evening, the officer added.

The cause of the fire could not be ascertained immediately while no one was hurt, said DIG Raza.

The Rescue-1122 official told Dawn that their team had inspected the place on the fourth floor and they suspected that a short circuit might have caused the fire.

He said it was a 13-storey building, where most of the shops were warehouses of auto spare parts and accessories.

Mostly rubber parts, plastic, bumpers, car accessories, etc, were stored in the warehouses.

Later on it transpired that even ‘chemicals’ were also stored on the upper floors, which were removed with the help of administration and the police to avoid further damage, Mr Khan added.

He apprehended that if the chemicals had caught the fire, it would have been extremely difficult for them to put that out.

He said because of the presence of “dense material”, the fire rapidly spread from one shop on the 4th floor to the 5th floor, destroying both the floors.

He said 6th and 7th floors were also partially damaged.

Mr Khan said that there was an old firefighting system in the building, which might have been installed at the time of its construction, but it was outdated and non-functional.

The officer said that there was no proper ventilation in the high-rise structure which caused difficulties for rescue teams owing to heavy smoke.

Media reports suggest that there was no emergency exit in the building as well.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2024