New warehouse fire breaks out in Karachi as factory blaze continues for second day
KARACHI: A fire broke out at an oil warehouse near Karachi's Mauripur truck terminal on Monday, rescue officials said, as firefighters continued battling a separate blaze that erupted a day earlier at the city's Landhi Export Processing Zone and has yet to be fully extinguished.
Karachi, Pakistan's financial hub, is home to thousands of industrial units but suffers from outdated firefighting infrastructure and lax safety enforcement.
'Fire and rescue teams were dispatched with one ambulance and two fire brigade trucks immediately upon receiving the alert,' Rescue 1122 said in a statement. 'Efforts are under way to bring the blaze under control.'
Meanwhile, firefighting operations at the Landhi zone, which began on Sunday, entered their second day, with flames still active inside some of the affected factories.
Authorities said the fire has been partially contained but full extinguishment and cooling may take additional time.
At least five people were injured on Sunday after part of a building collapsed at the industrial site, which houses multiple textile factories, officials confirmed.
The injured were moved to a nearby hospital.
A total of 11 fire brigade trucks and a snorkel were involved in efforts to control the blaze, which were hindered by thick smoke and water shortages in the city of over 20 million.
Hundreds of fire incidents are reported every year in Karachi.
Last November, a shopping mall blaze killed a dozen people.
In April 2023, four firefighters died responding to a garment factory fire, and in 2021, a chemical factory blaze claimed 10 lives.
The deadliest such incident in the city's history occurred in 2012, when 260 workers were killed in a garment factory fire.
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