Hijrat Colony blaze leaves four of a family dead, five injured

Four members of a family burned to death and five others were seriously injured on Saturday after a massive fire broke out in a three-storey residential building in Karachi’s Hijrat Colony, said an official of the Civil Lines police station.

The deceased were identified as Ishrat Khatoon, 45, Waseela, 30, Sheheryar, 20, and Ayat, 2, while the injured as Talib, Shahzad, Sumbul, Tauqeer and 26-year-old Ovais Talib. Talib was injured after he jumped off the second floor of the building to save himself from the inferno.

Police Constable Naeem Gujjar was also taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre after he started showing symptoms of smoke inhalation, as he had participated in the rescue operation.

The fire brigade spokesman said the building housed families of three brothers, adding that fire engines were despatched immediately after receiving information of the blaze.

He said that though the firefighters had arrived at the scene soon after the incident was reported, they faced difficulties in carrying out the rescue operation because of narrow streets, adding that they managed to extinguish the fire after a two-hour operation.

Rescuers from different welfare associations and police and Rangers officials also reached the site of the incident. Rescuers retrieved the deceased and the injured and took them to the Dr Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi.

Police said the people living on the second and third floors of the building were evacuated safely, but the family living on the first floor was trapped due to the fire.

Officials said Talib’s family was trapped in the house, adding that rescuers had evacuated eight people from the first floor, but three of them were already dead and the fourth died shortly. Police and hospital sources said that although the victims had suffered burn injuries, they had apparently died of suffocation. Police said the fire had spread throughout the building and engulfed two floors and the shops on the ground floor.

District South Deputy Commissioner Irshad Ali Sodhar told the media that the initial investigation suggested the fire was caused by a short circuit. He, however, admitted that nothing could be said with surety until the investigation was completed. He also said the victims had apparently died of suffocation.

Police said they had found no signs of foul play during their initial investigation, adding that a case would be registered if any criminal angle was discovered during the course of investigation.

Residents of the area held the fire brigade responsible for the casualties. They claimed that the fire engines were late to arrive at the scene, causing the people trapped in the house to die of suffocation.