Fire at Karachi furniture market near Kamran Chowrangi brought under control

A fire broke out at a furniture market near Kamran Chowrangi in Karachi's Gulistan-e-Johar area, and firefighters later brought it under control. The blaze also spread to an adjoining residential building, where it was likewise contained, Rescue 1122 said.

According to a Rescue source cited by Geo News, four fire tenders and a water bowser were used in the operation. A Rescue spokesperson told Daily Jang that four fire tenders took part. Rescue 1122 said fire brigade vehicles, rescue teams and an ambulance were sent to the site. Cooling operations were under way to stop the fire from reigniting.

Chief Fire Officer Humayun Khan said the fire had been brought under control and that no casualties were reported. He said: "There had been no loss of life."

Express News reported that K-Electric cut power to the Gulistan-e-Johar block as a safety measure. It also reported that the SSP East said a large police force reached Gulistan-e-Johar and Shahrah-e-Faisal, surrounded the area and tightened security.

The cause of the fire and the extent of the financial damage had not been officially established. Shopkeeper Asghar told Geo News the market had 20 shops and claimed the fire caused losses worth crores of rupees.

Asghar said the fire was reported to the Madadgar-15 helpline. He said firefighters took around 15 to 20 minutes to arrive, by which time the flames had spread through the market. He also said the market caught fire last year and that the shops were set up on a commercial plot.

Geo News recalled an earlier report that a major fire hit the same market on December 31, 2024, gutting more than 30 shops, with no casualties.

Geo News also noted that after the Gul Plaza fire in January this year, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah ordered a province-wide fire safety audit of major government, private and commercial buildings. He also approved resuming annual safety inspections of commercial buildings, which had been discontinued years earlier. A Sindh Building Control Authority audit found that 90% of surveyed buildings in the city's eastern, central and southern districts lacked fire-safety arrangements, and notices went to more than 300 building owners warning that buildings could be sealed. In February, the district administration sealed two major commercial buildings in Saddar for breaching fire safety rules.