KARACHI – At least 11 people were killed while around 60 were left severely injured after a fire broke out in a private hotel in Karachi.
The fire broke out at the sixth floor of Regent Plaza hotel located on Shahrah-e-Faisal in the wee hours of Monday.
The deceased include 4 women and 7 men while the foreigners staying in hotel kept safe. Three of the docters also perished as a result of fire.
The deceased were identified as Dr. Mohan Laal, Dr. Shair Khawaja, DR. Raheem Solangi, Waqas Hamid, Muhammad Hussain and Ilyas Babar.
The dead bodies were shifted to Jinnah Hospital.
Firefighters were able to douse the fire after four hours, with the help of three fire tenders.
About 100 people were reported to be stranded at the hotel and were taken out by rescue workers using a crane.
Mayor Karachi Waseem Akhtar visited the site of the incident and confirmed that the fire has been contained but the cause of the fire could not be determined as of yet.
According to Jinnah Hospital officials, as many as 30 people were in critical condition after suffering suffocation due to the smoke and were receiving medical attention. At least 11 bodies were brought to the morgue.
Scores of cricketers were also present inside hotel as the fire erupted including Sohaib Maqsood and Umar Ameen. Cricketer Yasim Murtaza jumped off the second-floor while Cricketer Karamat Ali also faced injuries in a bid to get out of hotel.
Meanwhile, Faisal Edhi while talking to newsmen confirmed that the rescue operation was underway and the top floor of the hotel was being searched.
Chief fire officer Tehseen Siddiqui while talking to a television channel expressed that the fire erupted at kitchen and soon it swept through the building adding that there was no fire exit in hotel.
