Pakistan moan over unprecedented death toll of Karachi inferno

ISLAMABAD, Sep 13: Heart wrenching scenes emerging out of Karachi inferno incident add to pangs of Pakistani nation that has braved a number of national tragedies in the recent past.

The death toll from Karachi national tragedy stood around 290 as the rescue teams dug out more charred bodies, many among them beyond recognition, only to leave their kins in permanent agony.

The fire which broke out in the garment factory on Tuesday claimed over 290 lives and is regarded as the biggest industrial disaster. The incident followed the earlier one which occurred in Lahore where as many as 22 workers lost their lives in shoe garment factory after fire erupted in small house.

The preliminary investigation still remained inconclusive as the speculations gripped the unfortunate saga of enormous magnitude. Certain survivors claimed terrorist plot behind the incident as the only entrance gate was found locked at the time when flames continued engulfing the garment factory, housing more than 300 workers mostly from the poor class.

Pakistan where the labourers' class is regarded as the most under privileged segments of society with meager wages, are deprived of basic facilities of health, education, social security and insurance and exploited by industrialists and factory owners in the face of lack of will to enforce the laws.

The repeated incidents in continuous days raised big question marks on the safety and precautionary measures in the industrial units exposing lives of hundreds of skilled and unskilled workforce to danger.