A huge fire broke out in two plastic godowns (warehouses) located in the premises of historic Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in old city area of Karachi on Friday evening, according to rescue officials and witnesses.

SSP City Faizullah Korejo told Dawn that fire erupted in the warehouse storing plastic products inside compound of the historic temple.

Though fire tenders reached at time, yet fire in plastic material spread rapidly engulfing another warehouse dealing with the same plastic stuff.

The senior police officer said that a chemical godown was also located inside the temple there but thankfully the fire was controlled, “otherwise much destruction would have happened”.

"All the persons inside the building were evacuated safely and more fire tenders have been called for assistance," he added.

Fire Brigade official said, “The blaze erupted at around 4pm, which was controlled by 16 fire tenders at about 8pm.”

However, three fire tenders continued the cooling work till late into the night. The officer said that one fireman Saleem sustained minor injuries.

“The cause of fire and estimation of loss could not be made immediately,” said the fireman.

Though, the officials claimed that the fire tenders arrived on ‘time’, the area people complained that the firemen reached the spot an hour late.

The main M A Jinnah Road was closed for traffic to provide easy access to fire tenders to the spot. As a result, traffic jams were witnesses on nearby roads, causing immense inconveniences to the commuters.

Meanwhile, another huge fire destroyed two floors of a textile mill in SITE industrial area of the metropolis. The blaze was controlled by 20 fire tenders after hectic efforts lasting several hours.