Fire and ice

We are all aware of the fact that factories here are unsafe, given the countless accidents we have seen at factories and smaller manufacturing units, killing hundreds of people. Another tragedy took place in the new Karachi industrial area on Tuesday night, when the boiler of an ice factory exploded, killing at least eight people and injuring over 30. According to some reports filed, on Wednesday morning the death toll had risen to 10 as bodies were recovered from the debris of the two-storey building. The explosion, according to reports from eyewitnesses, was so powerful that it also badly damaged at least two other industrial units in the area and also caused injuries at these locations.

The families of the victims have complained that, as has happened in the past, there was a delay in sending in rescue vehicles to the area. We are all familiar with such accusations. They are almost always true. Sindh Minister Saeed Ghani has sought a report within 24 hours. We can only hope it will help uncover the truth and not act as yet another cover-up of the kind seen in the past. There also needs to be an investigation into whether safety at the ice factory had been ensured and if the boiler had been inspected in recent months, to guarantee that it was safe. Sadly, such inspections rarely take place. The lives of people such as those who are forced to labour at factories are after all irrelevant. Few care about them. This is one of the reasons why we have failed to set up adequate safety arrangements at our factories or follow the labour laws, which lay down rules for safety and regular inspections to ensure this at the factory and workshop buildings.

It is very likely that compensation of one kind or the other will be given out to the families of those killed and injured. But this of course will not bring back lives or restore a working member of the family to his or her household. The damage caused by such deaths to families is long term, both financial and emotional. We rarely stop to think about this and to consider how safety measures and training to staff on the use of equipment such as fire extinguishers, could save lives and stop the suffering of the thousands of people who have over the years been killed in disasters at their workplace.