Hyderi Twin Bomb Attack...(September 18)

KARACHI: Six people lost their lives while several others suffered injuries including women and children in twin bombs that exploded near Hyderi market, Geo News reported Tuesday.

According to an eyewitness, an explosion took place in a garbage pile while another went off in a car. The eyewitness said that at least ten people had been rushed to hospital in ambulances.

Rescue and relief services have arrived at the scene and kick started their activities while the shops have been closed down.

The powerful blasts shattered the windows of vehicles parked in the vicinity of the blasts' site.

It may be recalled that police had recovered on August 13 a bomb planted at the same point where today's blasts have taken place. Source

Families of missing workers still looking for bodies

KARACHI, Sept 13: Desperate family members of still missing workers were looking for their loved ones in the fire-struck garment factory in Baldia Town on Thursday afternoon, when search for more bodies had almost been abandoned.

It was the third day of the fire, which had erupted in the industrial unit on Tuesday at around 7pm when the three-storey-plus-basement factory was packed with 800 to 1,000 garment workers busy in their respective tasks on jeans being prepared for export.

Among the grief-stricken people were Rafiqunnissa and her family, residents of Baldia Town. The family members, all females, were sitting on a pavement outside the Baldia factory. They were holding photographs of four young women who and an aunt of theirs were believed to be burnt to death in the factory inferno.

“They all were employees of the factory and their male relative Ijaz had managed to get them at one place,” said one of the grieving women, adding that Ijaz had been in contact with the family even after the fire had broken out.

Another crying member of the family said the last time the deceased could be contacted on telephone by them was amid loud cries and noises. “We’re running hither and thither; have visited all major hospitals and the Edhi morgue, but have failed to find the bodies of our Zoya, Soni, Samra, Rubab, Ijaz and others,” she said. “Please allow us to look for them in the basement; they may be in it,” said another member of the family.

Standing at a distance from the family, an employee of the city’s fire brigade, Mohammad Ijazuddin, said that during his 34 years of service he had never seen such a big fire. “I’ve been here since Tuesday night and have witnessed some 70 bodies taken out from the 2nd floor, some of them tangled with one another,” he said.

An aged volunteer from the neighbourhood, separating the badly tangled electric wires with the help of a young man, said he was arranging for light in the basement, which was being cleared of water by firefighters.

At around 1pm, a social worker said he had heard of only one body having been recovered since morning and that he believed no more bodies were left in the basement. “Had there been any, they would be floating now on the leftover water,” he said.

A senior worker who had just come out of the basement, however, said he had seen body parts floating on the water and there might be more bodies under the heaps of garments and bundles of cloth.

The fire had not been extinguished till 1pm, when workers doing the clear-up exercise on the second floor suddenly called for water hoses to be brought over to put out a fresh fire that had broken out in stitched jeans.

Karachi factory fire highlights risks for workers

KARACHI: The death of 258 workers in a devastating factory fire has highlighted Pakistan’s dismal approach to industrial safety and raised fears for the clothing sector vital to the nation’s struggling economy.

Western companies buying Pakistani garments and textiles are likely to scrutinise their suppliers’ working practices more closely after Tuesday’s disaster and there have been promises of a clampdown from officials in Karachi.

But in a fiercely competitive global market, analysts warn factory owners face a difficult dilemma, as higher safety standards means higher production costs.

Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and commercial heart, has around 10,000 factories on seven industrial estates, according to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).

On top of that, there are at least 50,000 cottage and small industries in the informal sector based in residential areas.

Fahim Zaman Khan, Karachi’s former top administrative official, told AFP that Ali Enterprises, the factory destroyed in Tuesday’s blaze, was typical of many units in the city.

“There is not a single factory in Karachi, which is different in shape and facilities as the one gutted by the fire. Everyone, including our rulers, could see similar factories nearby the gutted one but avoid to take action,” he said.

Police records show Ali Enterprises exported ready-made garments to North America and Western Europe, though it is not clear which brands or chains were supplied.

Nasir Mansoor of the National Trade Union Federation said safety measures were ignored at the factory.

“At Ali Enterprises there was only one exit point for more than 500 workers at the time of the emergency, all the windows had iron grills and doorways and stairs were stuffed with finished merchandise,” he said.

Karachi is a vast, seething metropolis home to some 18 million people, but its emergency planning is woefully underprepared, according to Khan — he said the city had only “a few dozen buildings” with proper emergency exits.

“We have a fire brigade which has just 35 fire tenders in working condition, but the city has hundreds of thousands of dangerous buildings. Our disaster management is totally inadequate,” he said.

Mohammad Hussain Syed, the city’s municipal head agreed that “very few establishments are in Karachi which have been built on proper building plans.

“Safety exits are duly mentioned in the plans approved by the authorities but the owners got away with it only to save money and extra land thus risking precious lives,” he said.

A crafty two-step of corruption and political manoeuvring allows factory owners to skip around the rules and focus on making money, said analyst Hasan Askari.

The garment trade is vital to Pakistan’s shaky economy, particularly the export sector.

According to central bank data, the textiles industry contributed 7.4 per cent to Pakistan’s GDP in 2011 and employed 38 per cent of the manufacturing workforce. But it accounted for 55.6 per cent of total exports — around $11 billion.

Irfan Moton, chairman of the Sindh Industrial Trading Estate, said the Ali Enterprises tragedy would damage Pakistani exports.

“Anybody who is planning to import something from Pakistan will now think for a while about our safety standards.

“He will consider other options like India and Bangladesh and may book an order from such countries even if he is buying it a few cents higher than our price.”

Aziz said it was vital that Pakistan responded to the disaster in the right way.

“There would be clarion calls from Western buyers for an immediate review of safety systems in units that supply goods to them,” he said.

“A lot of damage control would be required immediately by the owners and more importantly from (the government).”But introducing better safety measures — fire hydrants, sprinkler systems, better escape routes — means higher costs, giving the factory owners a dilemma.

“The choice is to make maximum foreign exchange at the risk of workers’ lives or to earn less and make their life safe,” prominent Pakistani economist Kaiser Bengali said.

Trade unionist Mansoor said most of the workers at Ali Enterprises were on third party contracts and none had appointment letters, so they were not entitled to social security benefits.

Workers at Ali Enterprises said they earned between 5,000 and 10,000 rupees ($52 to $104) a month for their labour.

For the lucky ones who survived Tuesday’s inferno, like 33-year-old Mohammad Khan who broke an arm jumping from the burning factory, braving frightening working conditions is just a fact of life.

“I am the only bread earner for my three children, wife and parents and have no choice. I am going to search for a job in another factory once my arm gets fixed,” he said with gloomy smile.