A massive blaze that erupted in Millennium Mall located on Karachi’s Rashid Minhas Road on Tuesday, destroying over 500 shops, was doused by firefighters after several hours of hectic efforts, a rescue official said.
In November of 2023, city planners, engineers and experts of building plans at a symposium were sure that some 90 per cent of all structures in Karachi — residential, commercial and industrial — did not have a fire prevention and firefighting system.
Rescue 1122 spokesperson Hassaanul Haseeb told Dawn.com that the rescue team arrived at the mall within 15 minutes of receiving information of the fire at 4:05am. There, a security guard informed them that the fire had erupted inside surveillance system of a control room due to a short circuit on the third floor.
The spokesperson was oft the view that perhaps the mall management had initially overlooked the fire.
When the firemen arrived there, the fire had spread onto the roof of the mall, where chillers were being kept as it was centrally air conditioned. This intensified the fire and heavy flames emanating from it touched the windows of the nearby Saima Mall and Residency building, triggering fears of a fire there.
However, 12 fire tenders, with the help of two snorkels, managed to control the fire after hectic efforts lasting for several hours. Cooling work is still continuing.
Haseeb said that the third floor of the three-storey building was completely destroyed, while the first and second floor were partially damaged. There were more than 150 shops on each floor.
He estimated that around 500-600 shops were badly destroyed, causing significant financial losses, but no injuries were reported.
