Korangi Fire: Public advised not to visit dangerous place

KARACHI: Chief of the Korangi Creek Cantonment Board has advised citizens to stay away from the spot where an unexplained fire that was raging for 18 days suddenly doused today.

“The gas still emitting from the dug-hole, people shall avoid visiting the place,” cantonment board’s head Faisal Wattoo said during a visit of the location.

“The Ministry of Petroleum had hired services of an American company yesterday.

The team comprises of drilling and safety experts inspected the site and observed intensity of fire at the place, he said.

The dug-hole at the place has further expanded, cantonment board chief said. “An area of 500 metres around the spot will remain cordoned off,” he said.

“We have applied for the lab chemical report of the samples collected yesterday. The matter will become clear after the report,” he said.

DC Korangi Masood Bhatti said that a private university near the location being shut down from today. The public and the media will be prohibited to visit the site, he added.

The fire first broke out on March 29 and continued to burn uncontrollably despite repeated attempts by the fire brigade to extinguish it.

Authorities had earlier stated that the fire could not be put out using water, prompting the declaration of an emergency.

The petroleum ministry hired a US company’s services after the chief secretary Sindh intervened into the matter.

“Technical teams of the Pakistan Petroleum and the UEPL jointly visited and inspected the affected area,” chief secretary’s spokesperson said.