KARACHI: Firefighters brought a furniture market blaze under control near Kamran Chowrangi in Gulistan-e-Johar, Sindh, on Friday after flames spread to an adjoining residential building, officials said.
Chief Fire Officer Humayun Khan confirmed that four fire tenders and a water bowser took part in the operation. Crews continued cooling the site to prevent the fire from reigniting.
Rescue 1122 said the flames that reached the neighbouring residential building had also been controlled. Khan reported no loss of life.
Police from Gulistan-e-Johar and Sharea Faisal reached the scene and cordoned off the area. K-Electric disconnected electricity in the affected locality as a precaution during the emergency. Shopkeepers reported substantial damage to furniture stocks.
Asghar, a trader who spoke to the media, said the market contained 20 shops and estimated losses worth crores of rupees. Officials had not established a financial damage figure or determined the cause.
He said the incident was reported through the Karachi police’s Madadgar-15 helpline. However, he claimed firefighters took around 15 to 20 minutes to arrive, by which time flames had spread through the market. Asghar also described the shops as occupying a commercial plot.
A previous fire at a furniture market near the same chowrangi was reported on December 31, 2024. Fire officials then said more than 30 shops had been gutted, with no deaths reported and the cause undetermined.
Separately, Karachi’s commercial fire-safety arrangements underwent scrutiny after January’s deadly Gul Plaza fire. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah ordered audits of major buildings and approved resuming annual commercial-building inspections.
A Sindh Building Control Authority survey found that 90% of buildings checked in Karachi’s eastern, central and southern districts lacked fire-safety arrangements.
The authority issued notices to more than 300 building owners and warned that premises could be sealed unless the required measures were installed.
With additional input sourced from Geo News and Express News
