Pakistan factory fires kill 310: officials

In January 2009, 40 people were killed, more than half of them children, when a fire engulfed dozens of wooden homes in Karachi’s impoverished Baldia neighbourhood, but Tuesday’s tragedy was considered the deadliest in Pakistani industry.

“It was terrible, suddenly the entire floor filled with fire and smoke and the heat was so intense that we rushed towards the windows, broke its steel grille and glass and jumped out,” said Mohammad Saleem, 32, who broke a leg after jumping out of the second floor.

“I saw many people jumping out of windows and crying in pain for help,” he said.

According to workers, the factory produced underwear and plastic utensils.

The garment trade is vital to Pakistan’s shaky economy.

According to central bank data, the textiles industry contributed 7.4 percent to Pakistan’s GDP in 2011 and employed 38 percent of the manufacturing sector workforce. It accounted for 55.6 percent of total exports.

Noman Ahmed, from the NED University of Engineering and Technology in Karachi, said few industries and businesses implement the law on safety and fire exits, finding it easy to avoid because of lack of effective monitoring.

“Most of our shopping centres and markets too have no safety mechanism, which the authorities should review seriously, otherwise it could cause graver tragedies in future,” he said.

Officials said the cause of the fire was unknown but Rauf Siddiqi, the industry minister for the southern province of Sindh, of which Karachi is the capital, said the owner could face negligence charges.

“We have ordered an inquiry into how the fire erupted and why proper emergency exits were not provided at the factory so that the workers could escape.” – Siddiqi.

“We have ordered an inquiry into how the fire erupted and why proper emergency exits were not provided at the factory so that the workers could escape,” Siddiqi said.

In Lahore, flames also trapped dozens of workers in a shoe-making factory, killing 21 and injuring 14 others, where Tariq Zaman, a government official, blamed a faulty generator.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan expressed “grave concern” over the fires and demanded immediate attention to ensuring safe working conditions for factory workers.

It called on the government to initiate criminal proceedings against the factory owners and also initiate effective monitoring of workplaces to prevent such tragic incidents in the future.

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