Four women, five doctors among 12 killed in Karachi hotel fire

80 injured; many people save lives by jumping through windows

KARACHI: Twelve persons, including four District Health Officers (DHOs) of Sindh and Balochistan, were killed and over 100 others, including Chinese nationals and national cricketers were injured when a fire erupted at the Regent Plaza Hotel on Sharae Faisal late Sunday night, health and fire brigade officials said. 

The dead included four women, including a female nurse. Fire officials and other experts squarely blamed the management of the hotel for the deaths and injuries. They said the management had disappeared and there was nobody to help them on the spot. Similarly, the city mayor also blamed the hotel management for the deaths and injuries.

“The fire erupted at around 2:44am at the Regent Plaza and within a few minutes, the first fire tender was dispatched from the Saddar Fire Station to the spot," Chief Fire Officer Tehseen Siddiqui told The News, saying the fire began in the kitchen of the hotel, but the smoke emitting from it traveled to each and every room of the hotel through the air-conditioning system, which caused the deaths.

Guests staying in the hotel rooms broke the windowpanes and jumped from the multi-storyed building in panic after their rooms were filled with thick black smoke. Some used curtains and bed sheets to make ropes to descend from second, third and fourth stories of the hotel while many were taken to safety by using primitive, wooden ladders by the rescuers.

Sindh Secretary Health Dr. Usman Chachar confirmed the deaths of three District Health Officers (DHOs) of Sindh including Dr. Mohan Lal from Umer Kot district, Dr. Sher Khawaja from Jamshoro District and Dr. Rahim Solangi from Naushero Feroz District while a DHO of Jhal Magsi district of Balochistan Dr. Hasan Lashari was also among the dead.

The body of another doctor, Dr. Muhammad Alam from Badin District of Sindh, was later found from room number 208 at around 7:00pm when rescue workers went room to room in search of bodies and survivors. Four women were also among the dead.

The DHOs of Sindh were staying at the hotel to attend a meeting of District Health Information Systems (DHIS) while doctors of Balochistan were to attend a mid-level managerial training, organised by EPI Balochistan in Karachi, health officials said, adding that several other officials from the health sector, including 16 employees of a pharmaceutical company, were also staying at the hotel.

“I was fast asleep in my room after checking into the Regent Plaza Hotel when at around 2:45am, I woke up, badly coughing and having problem in breathing. Lights of my room were on but there was thick smoke in the room, causing problems in breathing. I used a chair to break the window glass, which saved my life," Ikramullah, a guest from Quetta who was staying at the hotel, said.

Ikramullah said he was taken out of his room by the rescuers with the help of ladders but four of his colleagues from Quetta panicked and jumped from the second and third floors of the hotel, which caused fractures in their legs.

City fire brigade department officials complained of serious problems in responding to the fire, saying barriers in front of the hotel were closed and there was nobody to open them to allow the fire tenders to enter the hotel premises while the hotel management vanished from the scene and there was nobody there to guide the firefighters or lead them to various areas of the hotel.

“All the people died due to suffocation as the smoke reached the hotel rooms through the air-conditioning duct, which was passing through the kitchen area. Had the air-conditioning and power of the hotel closed, many lives could have been saved," chief fire officer of Karachi claimed.

According to him, there was neither any fire alarm system installed at the hotel nor there were safe exits to lead the guests to safety, adding that most of those who died due to fire lost their lives in their rooms while in their beds.

Regarding the cause of the fire, the chief fire officer of Karachi said at the moment, he could not comment on the cause of the fire as the entire ground floor had been gutted in the inferno and called for forensic investigation into the fire to ascertain its causes.

Dr. Seemin Jamali, the executive director at JPMC, said they received 80 injured including children. Four women were brought dead, saying 11 of the dead died due to suffocation while majority of the injured complained of having problems in breathing, which was due to inhaling toxic fumes and smoke.

She said many of the injured were brought with fractures and other injuries which were inflicted on them after they jumped from their rooms in panic. Three Chinese were among the injured who were provided medical treatment at the JPMC casualty ward and were later moved to a private hospital.

The Chinese consul general in Karachi and Russian diplomats along with their doctors and ambulances also reached the JPMC to inquire about their nationals while three Chinese were shifted to a private hospital by their diplomatic mission from the JPMC.

As many as 37 injured of the Regent Plaza fire were taken to the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), a spokesman for the hospital said, adding that condition of one was critical while majority of them had been discharged after necessary treatment.

The injured included first class cricketer, Yasin Murtaza, who jumped out of his room after his room filled with smoke, resulting in fracture in his leg while other national cricketers, including Sohaib Maqsood who were part of the UBL team to play a match of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, also sustained minor injuries while escaping the fire.

SSP South Saqib Ismail Memon, who reached the spot after the incident, said firefighting and rescue operation had been launched immediately after the eruption of fire and added that initially people from the hotel management were there to help people evacuate the hotel and guide the rescuers to take people out from the hotel safely.

The recently-elected Mayor of Karachi, Wasim Akhtar, also visited the spot and blamed the hotel management for the poor fire-fighting arrangements at the hotel, saying deaths could have been avoided if the hotel had proper fire-fighting arrangements and safety exits.   

Ambulances of Edhi, Chippa and other welfare organisations rushed to the spot to perform rescue operation, which was monitored by police, Rangers and army officials.

Following the fire incident, the Karachi police launched an inquiry into the inferno and a team of police officials led by DIG South Azad Khan and SSP Saqib Ismail Memon collected evidence while Sindh Rangers, Pakistan Army, Navy and other agencies’ officials also collected evidence and started parallel investigations into the fire.