Roundup: Hotel fire kills 11, injures 70 in Karachi

Rescue and search operation completed following a four-star hotel in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi caught fire in early hours on Monday, leaving 11 people killed and 70 others injured, rescue officials said.

Faisal Edhi, head of the local non-government organization Edhi Foundation, said the eight-storey building of the Regent Plaza Hotel has been cleared after cooling process and all the trapped people inside have been evacuated.

Saqib Memon, senior superintendent police, said the fire erupted in the hotel's kitchen located at the ground floor and quickly engulfed the floor, adding that the smoke from the fire swept through all the storeys of building, causing suffocation, which resulted in the large number of casualties.

He said the injured included foreigners at the hotel located in Shahrah-e-Faisal area of Karachi, the capital city of the country's southern Sindh province.

The officer said the condition of all the injured foreigners is stable and they have been discharged from the hospital after medical treatment.

Mayor of Karachi Waseem Akhtar said the fire and smoke expanded quickly as the hotel did not have proper apparatus to extinguish the blaze.

He said the hotel did not have any fire exits or fire alarm, which resulted in the large number of causalities.

Chief firefighter officer of Karachi, Tehseen Siddiqui said three fire engines took part in the rescue operation and contained the fire in three hours. Rescue teams from Pakistani army and navy also took part in the rescue operation.

Local Urdu TV channel Abb Takk said 200 local and foreign doctors were staying in the hotel to attend some seminar on Monday morning, when the fire erupted.

The report added that 20 Chinese engineers were also staying in the hotel and have been safely evacuated.

A 15-member cricket team of domestic and international players was also staying in the hotel and had to play a match in the city on Monday morning. A player fractured his leg when he tried to escape by jumping from the second floor, while two others got minor injuries.

All the 70 injured people and the bodies were shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre Karachi (JPMC).

Seemi Jamali, head of emergency services at the JPMC said the killed people included four women and three doctors. She said they have discharged 35 injured people after medical treatment while 35 are still being treated at the hospital.

Jamali said the death toll is feared to rise as five among the injured people are in critical condition. She said the critically injured people included those who fractured their bones after jumping from the hotel windows to escape, and others who got hit by smashed window glass.

She said some people who inhaled the smoke are also in critical condition.

Fire officials were still investigating the cause of the blaze. Deputy Inspector General Police Azad Khan said they are investigating to determine the cause of fire.

He said strict actions would be taken against the hotel management if the fire broke out due to their negligence or mismanagement.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah expressed sorrow over the loss of lives and sought a report from the commissioner of Karachi. Endit