ISLAMABAD, June 26: A mysterious fire in the Parliament House which broke out on Tuesday night gutted sensitive records of the Public Accounts Committees (PACs) and the service branch of the National Assembly, sources in the NA said.

The cause of the fire, which engulfed three rooms on the building’s fourth floor, could not be ascertained. The fire broke out at about 8pm and was extinguished by the fire brigade at 9:30pm.

However, a senior official of the NA said the entire record of the PACs was safe but the record of the service branch of the NA was burnt. The service branch deals with issuance of entry passes, security clearance of the staff and different documents issued from the Parliament House.

National Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain ordered an inquiry to determine the cause of the fire. The inquiry committee will submit its report in a week.

One of the fire fighters, Khizar Hayat, fainted after inhaling smoke. He was admitted to the Federal Government Services Hospital.

CDA’s acting chairman Kamran Qureshi told journalists that the cause of the fire could not be ascertained. “We will try to find out the cause of the fire tomorrow morning,” he added.

The NA speaker NA, Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Deputy Speaker Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob, Secretary for Interior Syed Kamal Shah, Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani, Maulana Ghafoor Haidery of the MMA, NA secretary Ziaul Haq,

Islamabad Chief Commissioner Khalid Pervez, Deputy Commissioner Chaudhry Mohammad Ali, SSP Zafar Iqbal and other senior officials of security and intelligence agencies reached the site.

In 1993, a fire in the Parliament House had destroyed the entire building.