SITE garments factory firecauses millions in damage

Goods worth millions of rupees were reduced to ashes when a fire broke out at a garments factory in SITE area in the early hours of Monday.

According to SITE Fire Station Officer (FSO) Tauheed-ur Rehman, the blaze erupted at around 1:55 am on the first floor of the three-storey Mundia Textiles building located near Habib Bank Chowrangi.

Rehman told The News that two fire trucks were immediately dispatched to the location, while eight more firefighters and two water bowsers were also sent later. The blaze was put out after two hours of hectic efforts, said Rehman, adding that timely action of the fire brigade prevented the fire from spreading to other floors.

Speculating the possible cause of the fire, FSO Rehman said that Mundia Textiles is a multi-purpose manufacturing unit where cotton is prepared on the first floor. “If the heat required for cotton manufacturing exceeds the limit, that can cause a fire,” he said. He, however, added that the actual cause would be ascertained in an inquiry.

Responding to a question, Rehman said that the factory was following fire safety rules, but the staffers on the affected floor were not trained enough to put out the fire. According to Asif Ahmed Bughio, SITE Division Superintendent of Police (SP), loss of life or injuries to any of the factory workers were not reported because they evacuated immediately, but goods worth million of rupees were destroyed completely.

He said the factory owners were calculating the financial losses they had suffered, and a case would be registered once preliminary investigation is completed. Four incidents of factory fires, including two in one day, were reported last month, prompting labour activists to demand that the government ensure proper health and occupational safety measures are in place in manufacturing units.

On September 24, a fire broke out in the first three floors of a multi-storey building home to multinational offices and popular eateries in Boat Basin. On the same day, a third category fire broke out inside a cardboard manufacturing unit near Shafique Morr.

On September 20, a factory worker died in a blaze following an explosion inside a cosmetic goods manufacturing unit on Sharea Faisal. The same day, two factory workers were burnt to death in a fire at a carpet godown in Lasbela, according to a statement from Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research.