Woman, daughter die, husband, son critically injured in house fire

A woman and her daughter lost their lives while her husband and son sustained serious burn injuries after a fire broke out at their house in the Landhi area on Sunday.

The tragic incident took place in the early hours of Sunday at a house located in the Zamanabad area within the limits of the Landhi police station. Neighbours came to know about the fire after they heard a minor explosion and noticed smoke rising from the house and called the fire brigade department and ambulances.

Firefighters extinguished the fire but they were unable to save the lives of the woman and her daughter, who had been burnt to death before they doused the flames. The firefighters were, however, able to rescue the woman’s husband and son alive with burn injuries. They were shifted to the burns ward of the Civil Hospital, Karachi, where doctors termed their conditions

serious.

The deceased woman was identified as 35-year-old Reema while her daughter as five-year-old Abrish. Her husband and son were identified as 40-year-old Nazim, son of Saleem and seven-year-old Al Hamd respectively. Doctors said the man had suffered 70 per cent and his son 50 per cent burn injuries.

Neighbours said Nazim had shifted to the rented house about one year ago along with his family from the Bhains Colony area. They added that there was probably some drilling in the house, after which a minor explosion was heard. Quoting initial investigation, police said the fire had apparently broken out after a UPS battery exploded due to overcharging. Further investigations are under way.

Protest

Meanwhile, the affected people of the blast that took a few weeks ago at an apartment near the Maskan Chowrangi staged a protest against the government for not fulfilling its promises.

“The Sindh government had made a promise that it will built our homes but still we are waiting for the government,” a protester claimed. “Almost two months have passed but the government did nothing for us.” The protesters also warned that they would stage a protest outside the Sindh Chief Minister House if their demands were not met.

Initially, police and the bomb disposal squad had declared that the explosion at the apartment had occurred due to gas; however, some laboratory reports later suggested that there were traces of an explosive substance in the samples, following which the investigation of the case was transferred to the Counter-Terrorism Department.