A major fire broke out at the Railway godowns situated off I. I. Chundrigar Road on Sunday evening. Edhi sources said a man, identified as Haroon, aged 45, and a young woman, identified as Ummah, aged 21, who were among the owners of the cargo hauls, were injured in the fire. They came to the godowns to assess the damage. They, however, slipped into the mud containing chemicals and suffered burns.
They were rushed to Civil Hospital.
Officials of the fire department said the fire started at a private godown and soon spread to two other private godowns. They said the fire which started around 4:15pm quickly spread due to the presence of drums of chemicals in the godowns.
“Dry gusty wind helped the fire to spread quickly,” a fire officer said.
All the three cargo-godowns and a wagon of a goods train in which plastic goods were loaded were gutted by the fire.
At least 22 fire-tenders took part in the fire-fighting operation. The fire was controlled after nearly two hours.
A fire officer said chemicals such as sulphuric acid, hydrogen peroxide and sodium were stored in the godowns.
The cause of the fire could not be ascertained immediately. The extent of losses were yet to be determined.
Authorities of the Pakistan Railways have ordered in an inquiry into the fire to ascertain whether the fire was an act of sabotage or it was accidental.
Another fire broke out on Saturday near Sohrab Goth off Super Highway by which around 100 cabins and 100 push-carts were gutted.
Fire officers said the fire broke out around 12:15-noon. The fire started at a mat shop (Chatai) in the Afghan Basti situated a few kilometres away from Al-Asif Square.
The president of the cabin association said the fire started accidentally at a mat shop which quickly spread to neighbouring shops.
Around 100 cabins and more than 100 push-carts were gutted by the fire, fire officials said.
The fire brigade was informed. The fire was put out after two hours of efforts.
Fire-fighters save a large number of cabins and shops.
Fire officials said the extent of losses could not be ascertained immediately, but the damages could run into millions of rupees.
A blanket shop was gutted by a fire in Mansehra Colony, Quaidabad. The fire quickly spread in the shop.
In Azizabad, a garment factory was partially destroyed by fire on Saturday.
The fire was probably caused by a short-circuit in the factory, officials said.
In a statement, the Pakistan Railways said it had allotted wagons to various cargo-handling contractors. They paid a fixed freight to the Pakistan Railways. These cargo-handling contractors book the goods of parties to upcountry stations.
The railways had allotted land to them, but they were totally responsible for the custody, safety and protections of their goods, the statement added.