A fire which engulfed the Press Information Department (PID) building on Wednesday was doused with no loss of life reported.
The record room of the PID was completely burnt as a result of the blaze, which started on the sixth floor and quickly engulfed the building.
According to sources, the fire was caused after a gas cylinder exploded.
Eyewitnesses informed that some of the people present inside the building escaped through stairs whereas others were rescued by firefighters.
Fire Department official Rizwan informed that 16 fire vehicles and 175 firefighters took part in the operation.
“Our initial objective was to rescue the people trapped inside. There was no loss of life reported and the fire was brought under control,” he said.
Located near the PID building are also offices of the Gilgit-Baltistan Secretariat, Zakat Audit and Election Commission of Pakistan.
Officials from the Capital Development Authority also reached the site of the fire.
Fire Department officials said the presence of papers, ink and other chemicals inside the building fuelled the blaze.
Separately, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said a committee has been constituted to investigate the blaze and it will be headed by the information secretary.
Commending the prompt response by the fire department which brought the fire under control, Fawad Chaudhry said that as per his knowledge no records or archives were destroyed in the blaze.
The minister blamed the dilapidated state of the building for the incident and said all the records of PID are being digitised.
Published in Daily Times, October 25th 2018.