Murder case registered against Karachi fire factory owners
A police officer (L), wearing a surgical mask, stands guard outside a building, after a fire at a garment factory in Karachi September 12, 2012. — Photo by Reuters
KARACHI: Police in Karachi have registered a murder case against the owners of a garment factory where a fire killed at least 258 people in the country’s worst ever industrial disaster, officers said on Thursday.
The government has ordered an inquiry and a senior official already told AFP that the two brothers who owned the factory have been barred from leaving the country.
A case has been filed against Abdul Aziz, Mohammad Arshad and Shahid Bhaila and other members of the management of Ali Enterprises, Mohammad Nawaz Gondal, the head of the local police station, told AFP.
“We have registered a murder case against the owners of the factory and several government officials for showing utter negligence to provide adequate security to the factory workers, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people,” Gondal said.
A senior Karachi police officer, Naeem Akram, confirmed the move.
Police are hunting for the factory owners, who have not been seen since the blaze, which erupted late on Tuesday.
The government of Sindh province, of which Karachi is capital, has appointed a retired judge to lead an investigation into the fire, with initial findings expected in a week.
The probe will look into the cause of the fire, protection systems available inside the building and the extent of negligence on the owners’ part, a provincial government statement said.
Workers were suffocated or burnt alive at the Ali Enterprises garment factory in Karachi, which made ready-to-wear clothing for Western export, when a massive fire tore through the building during the evening shift on Tuesday.
Up to 600 people were working inside at the time, in a building that officials said was in poor condition without emergency exits, forcing dozens to jump from upper storeys to escape the flames, but trapping dozens in the basement where they perished.
Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city with a population of 18 million, shut down in mourning on Thursday for the deaths.
Public transport was suspended and schools and colleges closed. Factories and markets also shut while attendance at offices was thin.
Relatives spent a second day at hospitals, desperate for news of their loved ones, breaking into wails and sobs when medics confirmed the identity of yet another body.
With so many burnt beyond recognition, only 140 of the dead had been identified by Thursday morning, some by DNA, and 115 bodies handed back to families for burial, city police chief Iqbal Mehmood told AFP.
Even 36 hours after the disaster began, several families still gathered outside the gutted factory hoping for news of their loved ones.
Just a few fire tenders were still working.
There was thick smoke in the basement and it was still too hot to go inside, where boiling water formed a pool after firefighters spent hours hosing the flaming building.
“The place is too hot and smoky, it is too risky to go inside and clear the building. We are waiting for now,” chief fire officer Ehtesham Salim told AFP.
Ambulances continued to ply back and forth to the factory, even as funeral prayers for some of the dead had already begun.
There will be other buildings and factories with such grave safety violations. It is a must for those responsible to search them out and ensure safety compliance. Those responsible, the minister included should be tried for this crime, should I call this murder.
Investigation started after 260 people lost their life?? where was the investigators? It means no one do inspection of factory before factory open!!! I think government inspector need to be punish..
So many factories are very unsafe. Also child labour is common in Pakistan, no one cares..
Very sad,
Sincerely,
Ash Mirza (USA)
you are right.
cannot believe our eyes or ears to know of the tragedy. But then this is Pakistan, and anything–anything can and does happen. SHAME
Really, are we that myopic? Could you explain the 180,000 factory fires every year that occur in China and Taiwan? How about the Apple factory conditions that were reported recently.
Admittedly there is cost involved in managing workers. To produce cheap goods you need to control cost. You cannot have a very high class operation and still produce cheap goods. Every square inch of a factory is valuable space, fire drills, exitinguishers, extra doors and exits – all cost.
But we in Pakistan are not willing to pay for it. So we blame the government. We don’t support the government for any success but are quick to blame it for any failure.
Are you ready to pay more? No. No one is. Worker safety is a huge investment, and anyone who knows anything about investments will realize that at some point you have to recover it or you will be closing down the factory and sending everyone home.
Pakistan has no electricity , reliance of industry and public sector is primarily on generators and quality control is not known to Pakistanis. Year after year we are haing floods but nothing is done to prevent it. Every citizen is responsible for whay we have today in Pakistan which is nothing but a mess. Dont point fingers at others, it is everone’s responsibility .
It is really sad that so many people died. But the fact is that the owners were doing good for the country by employing so many people. The biggest culprit here is the Govt. authorities who are responsible for Industrial safety act and to abide by the law. They are the one who should severly dealt with not the onwers.
This factory must be getting regular visits from CIVIL DEFENSE OFFICERS, LABOR DEPARTMENT, SOCIAL SECURITY. MANY OTHERS AS WELL. Please find the government officials who visited this factory and then charge them with negligence, corruption leading to deaths. If this was visited by civil defense then why didn’t this factory had fire exists???? Factory owners in Pakistan are in fear for the short cuts they have taken and the horrific results it can produce. Nail them NOW. get the ones who were responsible for maintaining law at these factories and charge every one of them. If this happened in china they would kill everyone responsible, owners, corrupt officers alike.
By the way this is not the time to say it but I excuse myself and would like to share the unethical behavior that Labor practices. They refuse to use safety equipment. smoke whenever, wherever. long list. but this factory needed multiple exists and those also with stairs on the outside and every floor must have access to the fire exits and doors must have key in them during working hours.
Do listen to the owners too, they will update the nation about the corrupt ways of ministry of Industries. if there is any.
There are a lot of buildings office in Pakistan which are not safe and no fire exit, will any action be taken to ensure this will not happen again ?
Jason trade centre on shah rah faisal is also a building where I worked is sitting disaster where there is no chance of survival in case of fire, and office. Of state life insurance also exist please take action now before it’s too late as generators are also run and innocent lives are in great danger.
Had this been in the states the president himself would have been talking part in the rescue efforts this is because the west has always proved that they are better than the third worlds. Here even the roads were closed when the governor came to inspect the area that too after 24 hours. they closed to road for him because he is special the rest of the people who lost the loves one mean nothing when the governor is visiting. Then we want to accuse the west and say that they dont have humanity. Where as after the factory incident we can all see how much humanity pakistani’s have. One thing about western countries they have got a heart. They value life be it of a human or animal more than anything. we value our quran more than a human being that is why we are failures. this is a sad but true situation.
All of the following must be held accountable and asked to respond to the Negligence on their part:
1) Building Control Authority personnel responsible for the code compliance.
2) Fire Department if there is ONE.
3) Also, some independent EXPERT from Europe or USA must be hired to investigate the wreckage
and confirm the reason for the Fire. It might be a suspicious fire….ignited by Bhatta Group….
4) Inquire into work order contracts by the Owner with his Clients to see if there were issues and
monetary loss was imminent and only a natural disaster could have saved the owner….
It is another sad tragedy & I think both owners as well city/govt. is responsible for this incident, I agree with other that basic pre-cautions must have been implemented and checked by city & fire official. Those who live in western countries where every business/building owner must maintain a security and safety of all employees. I just hope this tragedy will bring some good out of it for example a regular inspection of all work-places, once or twice a year fire drill with fire-escape and identify any hazardous material storage.
there is no system, rules and regulations in Pakistan. The owners are being made scape goats.
Its also the responsibility of the businesses that invest in countries where priorities might be skewed because of the lack of opportunities available, to insist on ethical practices, both at a grass root level & at higher industry & government level. It’s no secret that getting goods manufactured out of developing markets is cheaper precisely because regulation in some countries is not as stringent as in more developed & therefor regulated industrialized countries – where workers pay & conditions are prioritized differently. Big businesses also need to encourage responsibility rather than turn a blind eye & pocket the profits of apathy. Equally we as consumers also need to make informed decisions about who we buy from. At the end of the day each of us has a responsibility in the bigger picture of this tragedy. Thoughts go out to the families of the victims of this unnecessary & horrific accident.