Fire at PNSC
While on my way to Hawk’s Bay this morning, excited about all the beach-y fun that was in store for me, we came across a dismal sight. One of the middle floors of PNSC (Pakistan National Shipping Corporation) was ablaze with a fire that looked like it was spreading fast. All of us en route to the beach, panicked and called 15 immediately who in turn scolded us for informing that an hour late! Hordes of people had gathered below the building and were staring up in awe, I’m not sure if anyone had tried to get help (I’m sure someone must have) but no firefighters or firetrucks were in sight.
8 hours later, on our way BACK from the beach, what we saw was not only shocking, it was frightening! The fire had spread to 5 to 6 floors and the whole building was ablaze in flames! Someone told me it is where Engro Food’s office is located and the whole place unfortunately burnt down.
No one is injured, thank God. They managed to pull people out in helicopters in time. No one has been able to determine the actual source of the fire but I hope they zero-in on the cause soon and try their best to avoid in the future.
let me paste my comments that i earlier made …
multistory building and administration is helpless to
do some thing about the fire… all the snorkels in the city are out of order (they’re just good enough to be used in MQM election campaign to sprinkle rose petals at the MQM supporters) … we’re talking about building skyscrapers and we don’t have any adequate system to tackle small fire outbreaks at high altitude…. best they’re able to manage is Navy helpcopters using their rotors (wings) to create enough air pressure to put out the fire… instead that tactic could back fire and lead to fire spreading… may Allah help us…
Minister for port and shipping Baber Gauri’s office is among those which is gutted, besides Nespak and PNSC office…. i can already smell foul play coz initialy fire was under control and then it re erupted and engulfed the whole floors again… one of the most corrupt minister’s office gutted like that means no record left to unearth his corruption… just see how much excited Altaf is when he issues statement regarding this incident…
structure of the building must have weakened coz of the blaze and i assume their must be a plan running down in the mind of minister to demolish this old structure and build a new multistory PNSC skyscraper …
Completely agreeing to Doctor. I will just summarize what already has been said in detail here.
Emergency & Disaster recovery was one of the main reason why we had opposed skyscrapers
No one denies their importance but in our prevalent situation they will prove to be a nuisance.Such an important building didn’t have proper fire prevention arrangements, what to talk about the normal ones.
And then there is an issue of earth quake. Does anyone remember Turkey earthquake ?. Why is it that Japan, which is a heaven for these disasters doesn’t have any issues with skyscrapers. Because they have planned,designed & managed it so. In our case even if plan & design good, our official lot has a poor record in managing things. So skyscrapers inside city means an invitation to disaster on different fronts. And management would become even more difficult if we have concentration. Thats why i propose expanding Karachi outwards, lessening the burden inside city, specially moving out business hubs or making new ones.
plan to move out whole sale grain market , electronic market, timber market etc are on cards , i hope it all goes well…
This was not an act of God; not a natural calamity, yet we stood there helpless. This was a human-created disaster, and in this case there is no one else to blame put our government. How could they allow 10+ story buildings when they dont have the basics to safeguard them. Fire burning for 16+ hours yet no equipment to extinguish it. I feel the karachi government should resign and be put on trial. Does anyone even care?
Bayl, can you dial 15 from cell phone ???
Babar Ghauri’s office got burnt too? He should have used the worlds tallest sewage fountain to quench the fire.
Instead of wasting money on idiotic ventures he should have installed a sprinkler system in the building.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2i_qe0urT4
maybe installing installing a sprinkler system for his office wasn’t so lucrative option for Baber Gauri… he is just interest in large contracts and huge kickbacks….
No emergency equipment or plans. And definitely no trained personal. Yet we wish to clap our hands and gleefully shout, Hamara Karachi and other such pompous slogans when we start huge projects that we do not understand let alone keep or maintain safely.
This country should be re-named as it once was from being just being Pakistan to Islamic Republic (what a bloody joke) with Lawless-istan.
To be read as ‘ No trained Personnel’
Badmashi hay!! Fire means all record has burnt!! Salay hamasha yahi kerti hain…. lols. No record, no corruption :)
“Baber Ghauri’s office has burnt”..that explains all …surprisingly seems to be consensus on this point on KMB till now..
there is a decent way to register your complain. Point your browser to:
1)http://www.mqm.org/
2)www.karachicity.gov.pk/
and express your concerns to Altaf and Mustafa Kamal and let them know that this is not the era of 90s when Karachiites used to get fooled by Altaf and Co.
BAYL or any one , can we dial “15” from cell phone in Pakistan ??
yes of course we can dial 15 from a cellphone.
Thanks Bayl. I was not sure of that. Do carriers charge for the call. If you do not have pre paid balance then could you still make a call ?
Yes you do get charged and I don’t think you can make calls if you’re out of credit. Not too sure about that. I’m curious as to why you want to know….
@PPH u ok?
have told ayesha tammy haq (who does a show on business plus and on city 89) about this thread — she plans to visit the site and probably will mention it on her radio show tomorrow
Thank you Mr. Qureishi. I feel the readers have a voice that needs to be heard and this matter should be looked up duly. We’ll get much deserved audience I hope.
Actually I was working for a company few years ago who was working for VoIP and we were not let our services started as we did not have 911 services at that time. So I was just curious about rules in Pakistan. Could you please confirm about dialing 15 when there is no money in account ? Thanks any how.
Yes I hope so as well — She told me she will make it a point to mention this blog
@OMAR R QURAISHI
What are the timings ?
At 6.15 — on Business Plus — the tv channel
Well I once tried calling the police from my cellphone and it doesn’t cost. It is a toll-free number. All mobile networks let you make free emergency calls.
it costs
who told you it doesnt?
cost or no cost isn’t an issue at all when there is an emergency at hand… solution for people who have no credit left could be to call service provider helpline(which is free for sure) and tell them your nature of trouble and if you need police or your nature of emergency and your location…
Can anyone tell me where is Kamran Shafi, the former columnist for The News?