At least nine people were killed and many more injured in a fire that broke out in a multistorey shopping centre in Pakistan’s biggest city of Karachi on Saturday, officials said.
Arshad Hussain, a senior district administration officer from the port city, said that more than 40 people had been evacuated and shifted to different hospitals in the city.
More than 60 people were inside the shopping centre when the fire broke out on the fourth floor of the six-storey building in the southern port city.
The fire had been completely extinguished, Hussain said. The cause of the incident is not yet known.
A spokesman for the Chippa welfare organisation, which runs a rescue service, said 35 people were injured, with seven of them in serious condition.
Fires in residential and commercial buildings are common in Pakistan with most the high-rise buildings operating without certified fire and safety systems.
Pakistan sentences two men to death over deadly 2012 factory fire
Pakistan sentences two men to death over deadly 2012 factory fire
Poor safety laws and lax enforcement also mean fires in large buildings are frequent.
Fire services in the country are largely understaffed and ill-equipped to handle disasters.
Hussain said the fire was started by a generator short circuit and spread to engulf two floors of the building.
In 2012, at least 250 labourers died at a garment factory in western Karachi, when a fire engulfed the facility.
The building had no fire escape.
