KARACHI - A minor girl burnt alive in an inferno at Shanty Town in Gulshan-e-Iqbal on Tuesday. The fire also gutted as many as 150 huts and partially damaged at least a hundred.
The fire broke out in evening at one of the huts which quickly engulfed into the whole Shanty Town. According to fire brigade spokesperson, fire tenders were immediately dispatched to extinguish the fire at the Shanty Town located surrounding the Karachi circular railway in Gulshan-e-Iqbal locality.
The firefighters, however, controlled the fire with the hectic efforts of at least two hours while the cooling process was underway. The fire brigade spokesperson said that the cause of the fire has yet to be ascertained.
Volunteers from different welfare associations also reached the site and participated in the rescue operation. According to Edhi volunteers, a minor girl lost her life in a fire. The deceased was later, identified as one-and-a-half-year-old Aiman. Her body was shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and later, handed over to her family.
Extra contingent of police also reached the site. Police officials said that they did not find any criminal element behind the incident in the initial investigations. However, a case would be registered if any criminal element found in the investigations, police added.
It’s worth mentioning here that similar incident occurred in the same area couple of months ago claims two minors lives while authorities seems reluctant to take precautionary measure to prevent such incidents as number of Shanty Towns have been placed in the different parts of the city particularly in Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Gulistan-e-Juhar areas of district East.