Minor girl dies as fire engulfs slum in Gulshan-e-Iqbal

A minor girl lost her life on Thursday evening when a fire broke out at a shanty town in the Gulshan-e-Iqbal neighbourhood. As many as eight huts were gutted by the fire, while the remaining ones were partially damaged.

The blaze erupted at around 2:45pm at one of the huts in the informal settlement and quickly engulfed the surrounding shacks. Upon receiving the information, the fire brigade initially sent one fire tender to the site; however, it was not enough to put out the flames and three more fire tenders were despatched later.

Volunteers from various welfare associations also reached the site and participated in the rescue operation. They shifted the victims to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre where doctors pronounced a minor girl dead, while the injured persons were later moved to the burns ward of the Dr Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospital.

The deceased girl was identified as four-year-old Fatima, daughter of Yousuf. Her father, who is a labourer, was at work when his hut along with others caught fire resulting in the death of Fatima.

According to a spokesperson for the fire brigade, they received information about the fire at 2:44pm and immediately rushed fire tenders to the location near NIPA Chowrangi in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block 13-D. It took one hour for the fire tenders to douse the blaze which completely destroyed eight huts in the area.

The spokesperson added that the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained. A contingent of police also reached the site, participated in the rescue work and investigated the incident. Police officials said the huts in the slum area were inhabited by semi-skilled workers and daily wage earners who had moved to Karachi from various parts of the country for their livelihood.

The police officials also maintained that they had found no criminal act behind the fire, saying that a case would be registered if any criminal element was detected. Fire incidents at shanty towns in the city are not rare as many such incidents have occurred in the recent years, causing damage to lives and properties of their poor inhabitants.