KARACHI: A fire in the basement of a superstore in a Karachi high-rise was doused on Saturday after 78 hours, officials said, blaming the owners of the store for illegally stashing large quantities of flammable substances in the building's basement, which had fanned the flames and blocked parking access for firefighters.

A fire erupted in the city’s Chase-Up Superstore on Wednesday morning, killing one man, injuring three other people and displacing at least 173 families forced to evacuate amid firefighting and rescue services. Some fifteen fire tenders and teams arrived on Wednesday to put out the flames which soon engulfed the first floor of the building.

Blazes and accidents are common in Karachi, where many factories operate illegally and without proper fire safety measures, and residential areas follow poor security protocols. A fire that swept through a slum in the city in 2009 killed 39 people, including 20 children. In 2012, flames raced through a garment factory in the teeming commercial capital, killing 289 people. Last year in August, at least 16 people were killed when a fire broke out at a multi-story chemical factory in the eastern part of the city.

“The fire has been put out but it will take 24 or even more hours to cool the space,” Raja Tariq Chandio, deputy commissioner of Karachi’s District East, told Arab News, saying the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) would need to examine the building after the cooling process to determine if it was fit for residents to return.

“We have offered residents use of any of our over 200 guesthouses and other facilities, we are ready to lend any support,” he said. “But we cannot say at the moment if the building will be declared fit for use or not. An SBCA team will examine it … if it finds the building unfit, the government will provide compensation.”

Chandio and Chief Fire Officer Mubeen Ahmed said a delay in putting out the fire was caused by large amounts of ghee, cooking oil and other flammable substances having been stored in the basement illegally, which made access difficult for firefighting vehicles. 

“The basement, which was meant for parking cars, was being illegally used as a warehouse,” Chandio said, adding that SCBA had registered a case against the owners of the superstore for illegally using the basement as a warehouse.

“The owners have also been booked in the murder case of the man who lost his life due to their negligence,” the official said, adding that the incident had prompted a wider investigation to determine if other buildings in the city were using their basements as per rules and had installed proper fire extinguishing equipment.

But the promises of an investigation have not inspired confidence in the displaced residents of the building, many of whom, like Naveed Hasan, questioned the performance of the SBCA and asked why they had allowed such violations to occur in the first place. 

“A superstore with a daily sale of Rs15million couldn’t fix its alarm system,” said Hasan, who was forced to flee with nothing but his wallet and keys.

“We don’t know when the building will be cleared and if it will be cleared or not,” he said. “The upper building is intact but we know that extreme heat has impacted the base and the walls, and the ceilings are broken. It’s dangerous to live here now."