Blaze wrecks textile factory

A fire broke out at a textile mill in the SITE area on Sunday. According to a spokesperson for the fire brigade, the fire erupted at around 9:55 am at a multi-storey building of the Star Textile Mill located near Habib Bank Chowrangi in the SITE area.

Reacting to the information, two fire tenders were despatched to the fire site to participate in the extinguishing work; however, due to the high intensity of the fire, more fire tenders were later sent to the site.

The spokesperson said the firefighters faced enormous difficulty in extinguishing the blaze due to blustery weather, adding that a total of 11 fire tenders of the fire brigade participated in the operation and two fire tenders of the Pakistan Navy also assisted them.

Despite their efforts, the firefighters were not able to douse the blaze even after 12 hours. The operation was still going on when the story was filed. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, the spokesperson said, adding that while no loss of life was reported in the incident, the blaze caused loss of millions of rupees.

The Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) also provided help in the operation as it provided more than 100,000 gallons of water to the fire extinguishers. A contingent of law enforcers, including police and the Rangers, also reached the site to disperse the crowd and help the firefighters in their operation. Police officials said the cause of the fire would be ascertained once the extinguishing operation was completed.