40 killed as fire engulfs slum area in Karachi

At least 40 people, including 22 children, were killed and over 20 others injured when a major fire ripped through two dozen hutments in Pakistan's largest city on Friday.

40 killed as fire engulfs slum area in Karachi

At least 40 people, including 22 children, were killed and over 20 others injured when a major fire ripped through two dozen hutments in Pakistan's largest city on Friday.

The cause of the fire, which erupted a little after midnight, is yet to be determined. However, officials said it was probably caused by an illegal electrical connection that had been rigged in one of the huts.

Doctors at the Abassi Shaheed Hospital said over 20 people, most of them with serious burn injuries, were in a serious condition.

Many of the dead were caught unawares by the fire, which spread rapidly while they were asleep. The blaze was brought under control after hectic efforts by fire fighters.

Dozens of ambulances of relief organisations took the dead and injured to nearby hospitals. Rescue teams and local residents scoured the area for survivors and pulled people out of the devastated huts.

City police official Majid Dasti said that investigators were also looking into the possibility that residents had started a small fire to beat the cold, and that the wind whipped the flames out of control.

More than 30 huts had been gutted in the massive blaze. The provincial health minister said the huts destroyed had been home to about 200 people.

"This is just a catastrophe. I have lost everything. My life is destroyed," said weeping survivor Mohammed Khan, whose wife and two children were killed.

Thick black smoke could be seen rising from the scene of the blaze in Karachi, Pakistan's commercial capital on the Arabian sea which is home to more than 12 million people.

The shantytown was surrounded on three sides by larger buildings, and the only escape route appeared to have been quickly blocked by the flames, firefighters said.

"Most of the casualties seem to have been caused by the lack of exit route," said fire brigade official Ehtesham Salaam. "Investigations are ongoing," said Dasti, adding that police did not suspect foul play. Some residents wept as others desperately combed through the ruins looking for survivors.

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