KARACHI: More than 30 shops have been gutted and 80 were affected by the fire that broke out at a Glass Tower, a shopping center, located near Teen Talwar in the Clifton area of Karachi early Tuesday morning.
According to firefighters, the fire broke out on the first floor of the Glass tower and quickly spread to other shops. Twelve vehicles of the fire brigade took part in dousing the fire and managed to prevent it from spreading to other floors. However, since most of the shops at the tower were clothes shops, the fire spread quickly and gutted 35 shops.
Owners of the stores and shopkeepers removed their merchandise from the stores on a self-help basis to prevent it from being consumed by the flames.
No loss of life was reported in the incident. However, one of the firefighters and a shopkeeper fell ill due to the large amount of smoke and were shifted to the hospital.
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The building was completely evacuated. K-Electric also suspended power to the tower to minimize the damage.
After two hectic hours, the firefighters managed to extinguish the fire. The reason for the fire could not be ascertained as yet, according to Chief Fire officer Humayun Khan.
According to shop owners, the fire started on the first floor, which has 165 shops mostly that of clothes and bed sheets.
The traders demanding compensation from the government for their losses have said that we have incurred a huge loss as 35 shops have been destroyed and 80 shops have been affected.