Not less than six persons are dead, and greater than a dozen others are injured after a fireplace swept through a shopping centre in Karachi, Pakistan.
The blaze engulfed a multi-storey shopping centre within the southern Pakistani city just after 10 pm.
Based on local media, most shop owners had closed their stores or already left when the hearth broke out and spread quickly.
Garden subdivision police officer Mohsin Raza said initial findings suggested the hearth began as a result of a brief circuit in one among the shops, however the cause can be discovered through an investigation.
Most structures in Karachi and other parts of the country lack fire prevention and firefighting systems.
TV footage showed firefighters in protective gear battling the flames as thick black smoke billowed into the night sky.
Authorities said the hearth spread rapidly after erupting in an area of the centre where shopkeepers had stored imported garments, clothing and plastic household goods, which helped fuel the flames.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has asked authorities to take ‘all measures’ to guard lives and property, in addition to help affected traders and the injured.
Karachi is the capital of southern Sindh province, where such incidents are common.
In November 2023, a fireplace tore through a shopping centre in town, killing 10 people and injuring 22 others.
Get in contact with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE: Schoolgirl, 13, dies after ‘bunk bed set on fire with a lighter while she slept’
MORE: ‘Major toxic incident’ declared after factory fire with people ‘tasting’ smoke for miles
MORE: Parents of waitress who by accident began Swiss bar fire claim exit ‘locked to stop gatecrashers’