Overview

• The blaze began Saturday evening in a ground-floor workshop of a four-story residential building in Defence Phase II and sent dense smoke into upper floors.
• Two women — 70-year-old Syeda Sabiha and her 43-year-old daughter-in-law Syeda Shahzeen Afzal — died of suffocation at Jinnah Hospital, where around ten injured were treated.
• Rescue 1122, DHA fire brigades, Edhi and Chhipa deployed an aerial snorkel and broke window grills to evacuate residents, with eight people rescued and one person initially found semi-conscious.
• Chief Fire Officer Humayun Khan said crews fought the fire for about 90 minutes, contained it from spreading to nearby buildings, and reported a car in the workshop was gutted.
• Police and fire officials pointed to a likely short circuit as the trigger, noting stored oil and tyres fueled the blaze, and the Sindh chief minister ordered medical aid and a formal investigation.