Two major fires in the city on Friday reduced goods and property worth millions of rupees to ashes.

The Central Fire Station said that the first blaze broke out at around 4:00am in the record room of a private bank in the Business Avenue near the Nursery Bus Stop. Within minutes, the fire spread to other parts of the building, consuming all in its path and causing huge monetary losses. At least five fire engines of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and a snorkel reached the spot to battle with the leaping flames.

A short-circuit is believed to have caused the blaze and since it broke out early in the morning, there were no people present in the record room. KESC officials also rushed to the scene and disconnected the electricity, while SSGC personnel severed the gas connection.

The smoke billowing from the building was so dense that it could be seen from several miles away. The police and other law enforcement officials cordoned off the area, while firefighters managed to control the raging inferno after a battle of three hours.

The Chief Fire Officer Ehtisham said the short-circuit occurred on the ninth floor of the building. He added that the few people in the other rooms were rescued with the help of the snorkel and administered first aid.

Another fire broke out in the building of a local shipping company on II Chundrigar Road in the Mithadar police jurisdiction. As many as 22 fire engines arrived to extinguish the fire that was suspected to have been caused by a short-circuit.

The two-storey building was engulfed in flames and dense clouds of smoke billowed from the structure. The Central Fire Station said the incident took place at around 11:15am and within minutes, the fire spread to other parts of the buildings.

Firefighters battled with the flames for up to five hours and finally managed to control them. KESC authorities reached the spot and disconnected the power, while SSGC cut off gas supply.

Firemen stated that some walls of the building had collapsed. They added that around 150 people were inside the buildings when the fire erupted in the late morning. All of them rushed to the roof to escape injury or avoid suffocation and the KMC snorkels brought them down to safety.

Edhi ambulances were present to deal with any medical emergency, while the police cordoned off the area. The large number of fire trucks on II Chundrigar Roa caused a huge traffic jam. Despite the fact that law enforcement agencies had cordoned off the area, locals rushed in and tried to help the rescue teams with their efforts.

The massive amount of water used to put the fire out created large puddles with debris such as wooden planks from the structure mixed in.

The police started their investigations and recorded the statement of the owner as well as the watchman of the building. Meanwhile, shopkeepers and residents who lived nearby were moved to safer locations as they were unable to bear the heat of the raging inferno.