Owner, others booked after deadly factory fire in Karachi

KARACHI: A case has been registered against the owner and other executives of the chemical factory in Karachi that caught fire a day earlier, killing a number of workers, Geo News reported on Saturday. The factory owner, manager, two supervisors and security guard have been named in the criminal complaint. According to the first information report, there was no emergency exit in case of an unfortunate incident and there was only one way out of the facility.

The FIR stated that there was no alarm system in the factory either and the building was constructed in such a way that no one could get out in an emergency. None of the people nominated in the FIR have been arrested so far.

The criminal complaint put the death toll at 16 labourers. Reports from a day earlier said there were 17 victims. The fire broke out in the multi-storey building in the eastern part of the city. All of the factory’s windows were barred, police and fire officials said. Barring windows in such establishments are illegal. Many factory workers died after being trapped with no way out.

“The factory had only one entry point, which was also being used as exit, and the roof exit was locked, which hampered rescue efforts,” Mubeen Ahmed, chief fire officer had told Geo News on Friday.

Over 260 workers were burnt alive when a multi-storey garment factory was set on fire in September 2012 in what became the deadliest industrial blaze in Pakistan’s history.

Blazes and accidents are common in South Asia’s factories, many of which operate illegally and without proper fire safety measures.