Imran evacuated as fire breaks out at PM Office

Published April 9, 2019
ISLAMABAD: A fire brigade vehicle enters the Prime Minister Secretariat after a fire broke out on one of its floors on Monday. The incident took place when PM Imran Khan was holding a meeting in the building.—Tanveer Shahzad / White Star
ISLAMABAD: A fire brigade vehicle enters the Prime Minister Secretariat after a fire broke out on one of its floors on Monday. The incident took place when PM Imran Khan was holding a meeting in the building.—Tanveer Shahzad / White Star

ISLAMABAD: A fire broke out on the third floor of Prime Minister Office on Monday but a timely response by the emergency and rescue staff and the city administration prevented it from spreading to other parts of the premises.

When the fire broke out Prime Minister Imran Khan was holding a meeting in his office on the fifth floor. He was informed about the incident and asked to leave the place immediately. How­ever, he wanted to know the intensity of the fire. On the insistence of his senior staff members and security officials, he left his office.

The whole building was evacuated and staff members were asked to leave the place promptly. No injury or serious damage to the furniture or official records inside the building was reported.

There was no official statement about the cause of the fire.

Adviser to the PM on Media Affairs Yousaf Baig Mirza later told reporters that an inquiry to ascertain the cause would soon be launched.

Emergency and Disaster Management Director Zafar Iqbal told Dawn that the fire had erupted in a duct carrying wires of telephone and closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras inside a washroom on the third floor of the building at around 12:55pm.

He said the emergency and rescue staff stationed at PM Office responded quickly and they extinguished the fire within between 10 and 15 minutes following which a cooling process continued for an hour. Fire tenders of the Metropolitan Corporation Islam­abad (MCI) and Pakis­tan Navy also reached the spot.

Published in Dawn, April 09th, 2019

Opinion

Editorial

Smog hazard
Updated 05 Nov, 2024

Smog hazard

The catastrophe unfolding in Lahore is a product of authorities’ repeated failure to recognise environmental impact of rapid urbanisation.
Monetary policy
05 Nov, 2024

Monetary policy

IN an aggressive move, the State Bank on Monday reduced its key policy rate by a hefty 250bps to 15pc. This is the...
Cultural power
05 Nov, 2024

Cultural power

AS vital modes of communication, art and culture have the power to overcome social and international barriers....
Disregarding CCI
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Disregarding CCI

The failure to regularly convene CCI meetings means that the process of democratic decision-making is falling apart.
Defeating TB
04 Nov, 2024

Defeating TB

CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has the fifth highest burden of tuberculosis in the world as per the World Health...
Ceasefire charade
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Ceasefire charade

The US talks of peace, while simultaneously arming and funding their Israeli allies, are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade.