KARACHI: A fierce fire broke out at private chemical factory in Gul Bai on Saturday night could not be brought under control after more than 6 hours, Geo News reported.
According to rescue sources, massive fire broke out at Metatex Chemical factory in Site Industrial area at around 12:30 AM. Fire tenders from across the city were called in to douse the blaze.
The fire also engulfed two adjacent buildings.
More than 15 fire tenders, two snorkels and two fire bowsers were involved in extinguishing the inferno for more than 3 hours but the fierce fire continued to engulf the entire fire-storey building.
Many blasts were reported intermittently in the building due to storage of chemical while several parts of it were collapsed.
Teams of Pakistan Air Force and Karachi Port also took part in the rescue operation.
Fire-fighting officials declared the fire as a third degree inferno.
Electricity to the surrounding localities has been suspended after the factory caught fire.
No loss of life has been reported in the incident.
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As fire brigade struggles to put blaze out, factory starts falling apart
By Web Desk
Published: October 28, 2012
An exterior view of the burning chemical warehouse of a plastic bag manufacturing factory is seen in Karachi October 28, 2012. PHOTO: REUTERS
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KARACHI: A section of the chemical warehouse of a plastic packages manufacturing factory in the Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE), Karachi, has collapsed after the fire there was still raging 19 hours on, Express News reported.
Executive District Officer Khalid Zaman said 40 fire tenders were struggling to extinguish the fire and were provided with foam.
However, Express News correspondent Nadeem Ahmed said that the foam has not been used in adequate quantities.
The fire had reportedly started late Saturday night. While the fire brigade had reached the area immediately, it was struggling to control the fire. Such was the intensity of the fire, that it was quickly elevated to a category three and fire tenders from across the city were called in to help put the blaze out. Even PAF fire tenders from the nearby Masroor airbase tried to help in putting the blaze out.
Earlier Express News correspondent Rehan Khan reported that only 20 out of the city’s 50 fire tenders were present in the area adding that rescue officials were still struggling to extinguish the fire with water and not foam – critical in putting out chemical fires quickly.
Failing to adequately control the fire, firefighters concentrated on containing the blaze in the affected building and prevent adjoining buildings from catching fire.
It is reported that the factory is nearly 30 years old and employs 600 workers.
Lack of water hurting fire fighting efforts
Fire fighter Imtiaz explained Express News that while Chemical fires take longer than regular fires to bring under control, the large area over which the blaze was spread was also causing them problem in fighting it.
However, the major issue that was thwarting fire fighting efforts was availability of water, Imtiaz said. “If water was available at the factory, we would have put out the fire by now.”
“There were no fire hydrants at the factory. We have had to send brigades to SITE post office, SITE town and nearby factories to refill water, this is the sole reason for the delay in putting the blaze out, otherwise we have foam and other necessary tools,” Imtiaz said.
No casualties
Fortunately, no one was injured in the blaze as workers were off for Eid holidays.
However, after learning of the blaze, some visited factory to see the damage first hand.
One of the factory workers told Express News that internally, the factory maintains a very good fire fighting mechanism, however all workers were off for Eid. He was seconded by firefighter Imtiaz who said, “They had adequate fire safety measures according to the nature of their work.”
Another employee said that there were only four guards who were present when the fire started. They were the ones who called the fire brigade, he said.
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Burned alive: Over 300 killed in Pakistan factory fires (PHOTOS)
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Published: 12 September, 2012, 12:01
Edited: 12 September, 2012, 22:55
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Accident, Pakistan
Pakistani firefighters extinguish a fire that erupted in a garment factory in Karachi.(AFP Photo / Asif Hassan)
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Deadly fires have gutted two factories in Pakistan, killing at least 314 people. In both incidents, the blazes trapped many employees. Police are raiding homes searching for the factories' owners.
The fire in Karachi, the country’s economic capital, began on Tuesday evening and raged throughout the night, with some 40 firefighting vehicles and crews dispatched to combat the blaze. The five-story building was still smoldering on Wednesday morning. Some 289 people died there.
Witnesses reported that the blaze spread at astounding speed, which left workers in the factory struggling to escape. The factory’s gates were closed, trapping workers inside.
"I jumped from my seat as did others and rushed toward the windows, but iron bars on the windows barred us from escaping. Some of us quickly took tools and machines to break the iron bars," Mohammad Ilyas, an injured factory worker told the AP. "That was how we managed to jump out of the windows down to the ground floor."
Fire raging at the factory building in Karachi. AP video still.
Karar Abbasi, a doctor at a local hospital, reported that many of the survivors were injured after leaping from the factory’s windows to escape the fire. One of the survivors was a 27-year-old pregnant woman, who is now having fetal complications.
Most of the victims suffocated in the smoke, Karachi Chief Fire Officer Ehtishamud Deen said. The cause of the fire has not been established.
Wide of smoke rising from the factory in Karachi. AP video still.
In Lahore, where at least 25 people were killed, the fire swept through a four-story shoe factory, which was illegally located in one of the city’s residential zones.
"We saw our colleagues burning alive, in flames," Shabdir Hussain told Reuters from his hospital bed. "We could do nothing. We saved our lives by jumping from the roof."
Preliminary reports attributed the fire to a faulty electric generator. The city’s power grid operates at an irregular rate, so many businesses and homeowners rely on generators powered by diesel or gasoline during brownouts. Sparks from a generator at the factory ignited chemicals used to make shoes, witnesses said.
Firefighters dousing flames at the factory in Karachi. AP video still.
Worker Muhammad Shabbir said that the fire started in the garage, which was also the factory’s only exit. Shabbir was outside the building when the fire took place, while his cousin, who also worked at the factory, suffered severe burns and later died in a local hospital.
Firefighters broke holes in the factory's brick walls to reach the victims trapped inside.
Firefighters dousing flames at the factory in Karachi. AP video still.
Pakistani rescuers shift the dead body of a worker after the fire in Karachi.(AFP Photo / Asif Hassan)
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Fire at Bangladesh clothing factory kills at least 121 (VIDEO, PHOTOS)
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Published: 25 November, 2012, 08:09
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Asia, Accident
A firefighter tries to control a fire at a garment factory in Savar, outskirts of Dhaka November 24, 2012 (Reuters / Andrew Biraj)
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At least 121 people have been killed after a fire at a multi-storey clothing factory on the outskirts of Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, officials say.
The death toll from the fire has risen after rescuers discovered more bodies in the ruins.
“We've found 112 dead bodies this morning,” a fire brigade director told AFP. “We resumed our search this morning and found the bodies lying on different floors of the factory building.”
It took firemen over five hours to extinguish the flames after the fire broke out late Saturday.
According to police, many of the factory's workers were jumping from the factory’s upper floor in a bid to save their lives.
The cause of the blaze remains unclear. The fire started on the second floor, trapping many on the floors above. Eight people were reported dead earlier, before the firefighters entered the building and saw dozens of bodies.
Two years ago, a similar blaze in another garment factory triggered by a wiring problem killed at least 25 people.
Textiles compose up to 80% of annual exports in Bangladesh, which total $24 billion.
Firefighters try to control a fire in a garment factory in Savar, outskirts of Dhaka November 24, 2012 (Reuters / Andrew Biraj)
A firefighter tries to control a fire at a garment factory in Savar, outskirts of Dhaka November 24, 2012 (Reuters / Andrew Biraj)
Firefighters try to control a fire in a garment factory in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka November 24, 2012 (Reuters / Andrew Biraj)
A firefighter tries to control a fire at a garment factory in Savar, outskirts of Dhaka, November 24, 2012 (Reuters / Andrew Biraj
