KARACHI: A fire destroyed dozens of shanty huts in Karachi on Saturday morning but there were no reports of any casualties in the incident.
The fire broke out in a slum dwelling near Teen Hatti Bridge in Liaquatabad area. Three fire tenders reached the scene and extinguished the blaze after hectic efforts. The cause of the fire has yet to be ascertained.
This is the fourth fire incident in Karachi in the last six days. On Wednesday, a fire engulfed a multi-storey building of the Queen Victoria Shopping Centre near Zainab Market.
On Monday, a factory located in Karachi’s SITE area also caught fire. It could not be ascertained what caused it while on Sunday, a massive fire engulfed Karachi’s Cooperative Market in Saddar and inflicted heavy financial losses.
Earlier, a fire broke out in a betel nut warehouse located in Joria Bazaar area of Karachi. The blaze erupted at the ground floor of a three-storey building spread and engulfed the entire warehouse.
Three fire brigade vehicles reached the spot and brought the fire under control. Rescue sources said the fire was caused by a short circuit. They also informed that no casualty was reported in the incident but valuables worth millions of rupees were reduced to ashes by the fire. Karachi reports hundreds of fire incidents in a year owing to its outdated infrastructure and shortage of fire fighting equipment.
In another incident, a hand grenade was recovered from garbage dump from KDA Scheme-I area in the jurisdiction of Shah Faisal Police Station in Karachi. Police along with Bomb Disposal Squad reached the spot after being informed and defused the bomb.
According to police, the RG-69 hand grenade was made of plastic and did not have a detonator. The grenade also contained 65 grams of explosive material and 350 to 400 ball bearings. Police said further investigation is underway.
