A fire suddenly broke out in Centaurus on sunday, the biggest shopping mall in Islamabad. At the time of the fire, a large number of people were present in the mall and panic spread. There is no report of deaths yet.
According to the details, the fire rapidly spreads from the third to the first floor. However, the flames engulfed 8 floors of the shopping mall including the apartments’ floor.
8 fire brigades and rescue along with all 12 vehicles of the Metropolitan are engaged in extinguishing the fire. A helicopter was also called to extinguish the fire, while the back door was used to evacuate people from the mall.
As per initial reports, the fire broke out in the kitchen of the restaurant located on the third floor of the mall, which spread to other floors afterward. All the people are evacuated safely from the mall with the help of a rescue operation.
Smoke from the fire can be seen far and wide in the city as the administration and police have completely sealed off Centaurus. The administration and police officials told the media that the rescue teams are busy controlling the fire.
It should be noted that Centaurus is the famous and busiest shopping mall in Islamabad with residential flats on the top floor. A large number of people were there for shopping when the fire breaks out.
The fire was put out by authorities in more than two hours, involving teams from the armed forces and multiple civic organizations.
“The fire at Centaurus Mall was brought under control after a two-hour operation,” the Capital Development Authority said on Twitter, citing the Islamabad chief commissioner.
“Fire Brigade, Navy, Air Force, Rescue 1122 took part in controlling the fire.”
A public liaison officer for the Islamabad police said all people inside the mall had been “safely evacuated” and there was no damage to shops.
The cause of the blaze has yet to be ascertained.
The Islamabad administration said it had sealed off the mall’s premises until a committee determined the structural capability of the tower, where the blaze had erupted.
Blasts and mishaps are normal in Pakistan, particularly in its monetary center point of Karachi, where numerous production lines and structures work without legitimate fire wellbeing measures, and neighborhoods follow unfortunate security conventions.
A fire that swept through a slum in the city in 2009 killed 39 people, including 20 children. In 2012, flames raced through a garment factory in the teeming commercial capital, killing more than 300 people.
This June, a fire erupted in the city’s Chase-Up Superstore in an apartment building, killing one man, injuring three other people and displacing at least 173 families.
Fire departments in Pakistan are largely understaffed and ill-equipped to handle disasters.
The shortage of staff and capacity frequently compel the fire brigade across Pakistan to seek help from the armed forces and other government departments, which have their own fire departments.
