Several people rescued as fire rips through high-rise on Sharea Faisal

KARACHI: At least one person was injured and several others were evacuated to safety after a massive fire ripped through a multi-storey building near Nursery on Sharea Faisal late on Saturday night.

The blaze began at around 1am and soon spread to several floors of the Portway Trade Center.

Rescuers and witnesses said a man, identified as Asim, suffered injuries after he jumped from the first floor to save his life as flamed engulfed the façade of the building. The injured was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and was said to be in a stable condition.

Responding to calls for help, 13 fire tenders soon arrived at the scene to put out the Category III blaze in the building, which is located adjacent to a petrol pump. SHO Inaam Junejo of Ferozeabad Police Station said that responding to information, he along with his staff rushed to the spot and called the fire brigade and rescue services to reach the property. He added that personnel of the K-Electric and other utilities also arrived and disconnected the electricity and gas connections. Two snorkels also joined hectic efforts to extinguish the fire.SHO Junejo said that during the operation they rescued people who were present inside the building; however, during the process one person jumped from the 1st floor of the building and suffered injuries. He said it was early to confirm if there were more people inside. The firefighters were able to bring the fire under control after the hectic efforts that lasted one and a half hours. The cooling process had been under way till the filing of this report.