By Kamran Sheikh

A case has been filed against the owner of a chemical factory in Karachi after a fire erupted and caused the death of at least 17 workers on Friday.

Along with the owner of the factory in Korangi’s Mehran Town, administration and guards were also booked in the case.

Officers of the investigation and crime scene unit visited the site and gathered evidence from the spot to discover cause of the fire. They also decided to conduct forensics of the factory.

The initial investigation report found negligence of different departments. According to the report, the factory had no emergency exit gate and the door leading to the roof of the factory was also locked. It further said the workers who were stuck inside the building tried to escape from it, but they couldn’t and died in the locked premises.

The tragic incident happened in the morning, however, the rescue teams reached late at the spot, according to the eye-witnesses.

A fire brigade left for the spot after two minutes of receiving the information about the incident at 10:08am. However, the second vehicle couldn’t be sent to the spot as its driver was not available.

Recently, the federal government handed over two fire tenders to the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry which were in the premises of the fire brigade, however, they were not sent to the spot, according to a source in the investigation team. The team was looking into this issue, he said.