KARACHI: Over 500 motorcycles, a bus, two rickshaws, and six to seven cars kept at a central vehicle pool, commonly known as Nazarat, were reduced to ashes as the bushes near Karachi’s Aziz Bhatti Park caught fire.
The fire initially broke out in the bushes, but the flames soon spread to the Nazarat — a place where case property or stolen vehicles are kept after recovery to be presented in court when required — engulfing several cars and other vehicles.
Firefighters and fire tenders were sent to the site soon after the blaze was reported.
“Six fire tenders are working to contain the blaze,” the fire department officials said, confirming the number of vehicles lost.
They said that the burning tires of the vehicles were causing a greater amount of smoke.
The fire has been restricted from spreading further and it will be doused soon, the officials said, adding that firefighting teams were trying to keep the residential apartments safe from the inferno.
The officials said they would determine the damage caused by the blaze following the cooling process.
The In-charge of Nazarat, Amir Hasan, claimed that more than 600 case properties including cars, tri-wheel rickshaws and motorcycles were burned out in the fire. However, he doubted that the figure could exceed as there are hundreds of vehicles parked in the Nazarat.
The police officials said many abandoned motorcycles were burned in the incident while a bus, a rickshaw, and several cars had also caught fire. However, the police refrained from telling the exact figure of the damaged vehicles.
However, the police said no casualty was reported in the incident and a probe will be launched to investigate the cause of the fire.
