DHAKA: Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has stepped in to buy a bat owned by Bangladesh's Mushfiqur Rahim after a charity auction for coronavirus victims was derailed by fake bids.
Mushfiqur put the bat he used to score Bangladesh's first Test double hundred in 2013 against Sri Lanka up for the highest bidder online this week.
But organizers called off the auction as fake offers sent the price soaring over $50,000, Mushfiqur said.
"Afridi contacted me personally and I sent him a link of the bid," he said in an online forum Friday.
"On May 13 he sent me a letter and offered $20,000. He bought my bat with this money. I am really privileged," he said.
Mushfiqur's management firm said the money would go to a development charity and to help people with coronavirus.
Afridi, who has his own foundation, said his purchase was a good one.
"We are faced with tough times and the need to help the poor is more in these times," he told AFP.
Mushfiqur was the second Bangladeshi cricketer to raise coronavirus funds by selling a bat. Suspended all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan last month got nearly $24,000 for the one he used in the 2019 World Cup.
Pakistan's Afridi buys bat after fake bids halt Bangladesh's charity auction
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Pakistan's Afridi buys bat after fake bids halt Bangladesh's charity auction
- Mushfiqur was the second Bangladeshi cricketer to raise coronavirus funds by selling a bat
- Organizers called off the charity auction for coronavirus victims after fake offers sent the price soaring over $50,000
Firefighter dies battling Pakistan mall blaze raising death toll to six
- The fire gutted several shops at Gul Plaza in Karachi’s Saddar business district late Saturday
- Police say an investigation into the cause of fire will be launched once the blaze is doused
ISLAMABAD: A firefighter was killed while battling a blaze at a shopping mall in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi, officials said on Sunday, raising the death toll from the incident to six.
The fire, which erupted at Gul Plaza in Karachi’s Saddar business district late Saturday, gutted several shops, according to a Rescue 1122 spokesman.
Television footage showed several fire trucks using ladders, water cannons and hoses to douse the building’s floors, where flames shot out of windows and balconies.
Around 20 injured persons were shifted to hospital, where a firefighter among six individuals succumbed to burn injuries.
“The entire team and machinery are busy extinguishing the fire,” Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab said. “Firefighters are carrying out the rescue operation risking their own lives.”
The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Police said an investigation would be launched once the blaze was extinguished. However, most structures in Karachi, and other parts of the country, lack fire prevention and firefighting systems, which often result in damages and casualties.
Karachi is the capital of southern Sindh province, where such incidents are common. In November 2023, a fire tore through a shopping mall in the city, killing 10 people and injuring 22 others.
Sindh Chief Minister directed the Karachi commissioner to probe the incident and submit an inquiry report.
“Fire safety arrangements in the building must be checked,” he said. “Action be taken against those responsible in case negligence or carelessness is proven.”
In his message, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed sorrow over the loss of lives in the Karachi fire incident, urging all necessary action to protect lives and property of people.
“Relevant agencies should work together in the rescue operation,” he said. “All possible assistance should be provided to the affected traders and other people.”
