8 people dies in LDA plaza fire,rescue operation continues

Lahore: Eight persons were died including a young man who jumped from the seventh floor to save himself from being grilled, whereas 26 were rescued by Army rescue team and Punjab Emergency Service (Rescue 1122) during Rescue’s operation in a fire case in LDA Plaza at Egerton Road on Thursday.It was complete failure of the rescue teams as they could not extinguish the fire after 16 hours. A man fell down while going to the top of the building through the rope when unfortunately it broken. Operation was continues till the woe hours of Friday as there were many people inside the building.Punjab government has formed an inquiry committee and announced five lakh compensation amount for the deceased’s families

Rescue teams faced challenge due to the restricted access to the building due to construction on one side and raised platforms and basement on other side. Furthermore, the ducting also caused rapid spread of smoke and fire in the building.

Fire call was made at 11:56 AM almost 40 minutes late when the incident actually took place. DG Rescue 1122 Dr. Rizwan Naseer wearing fire suit reached the spot and worked as Incident Commander. According to the details, four helicopters were called by DG Rescue Punjab and were provided two by Pakistan Army and one from Governor Punjab and one from Chief Minister Punjab.Three rescue teams landed on roof of the building and 15 fire rescuers wearing Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) and seat-harness entered the Plaza and evacuated 26 people.

Rescue spokesman Jam Sajjad said nine fire vehicles including two turntable ladders, aerial platforms, water bousers and other fire trucks reached the spot and started fire fighting. Over 90 percent fire was under control till filing of this report. Around 26 people sustained multiple burn injuries including Zaffar Khan, Shamas Alam, Waseem Shah, Ikram Ul Haq, Ishaq, Jamsheed, Talib Hussain, M. Iqbal, Riaz, Nasir, Khadim, Azam, Naseer, Anwar, Ramzan etc whereas two rescuers naming Sabir and Ghulam Mustafa also sustained burn injuries. However, four people among the injured died at hospitals.

People were still stuck in the building and looking for help,while rescue teams were doing their job with the hope to save maximum lives.The relatives,friends and families were sitting outside the building,on the roads to listen good news about their near dears.

DG Rescue Punjab expressed his sorrow and grief over this sad incident,and said that LDA did not abide by its own by-laws for the construction of the buildings.He appealed the owners of high rise buildings to abide by building-by laws and building safety codes so that such incidents could be made avoidable in future. “These incidents are preventable if fire staircases, external exists, fire hydrants and fire alarms systems are installed inside and around the building,” he added.