10 of a family killed as fire engulfs house in Lahore

Ten members of a family were killed as a fire erupted in a home located in Bhati Gate area of Lahore during the early hours of Wednesday, officials said.

Bhati Gate Station House Officer (SHO) Mohammad Sajjad confirmed the death toll to Dawn.com. Lahore DIG Operations Ali Nasir Rizvi said that the deceased belonged to the same family.

According to an official statement from Rescue 1122, the department was alerted about the fire at 2:32am. In response, the rescue service deployed 33 rescuers and 11 vehicles to the incident’s location.

The statement further said that the fire erupted on the second floor of the house, which was located in a “very congested area”. Rescue 1122 further said that the bodies had been shifted to Mayo Hospital.

The list released by Rescue 1122 showed that five of the deceased were teenagers while two of them were a four-year-old and a seven-month-old.

Later, the fire was confirmed to have been controlled and the cooling process was under way, the rescue service said.

State-run Radio Pakistan reported that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed “deep sorrow and grief” over the incident and “prayed for the departed souls”.