Used-Clothes Blaze Spreads In Landhi Export Zone; Building Section Falls.
✧ GENERATE BRIEFING +
A major industrial fire erupted on Monday within a used-clothing processing unit inside the Landhi Export Processing Zone (EPZ) in Karachi, triggering extensive structural collapse and spreading rapidly to an adjacent factory. Fueled by massive volumes of highly combustible second-hand textiles, the blaze generated dense toxic smoke and extreme heat that cracked masonry and caused a section of the building to cave in. Three workers were briefly trapped and overcome by heavy fumes before being rescued and stabilized by emergency medical teams.Multi-agency response teams—including KMC fire tenders, Rescue 1122, snorkels, bowsers, and disaster-response units—battled the inferno for over seven hours, relying on direct water-cooling shields to protect personnel operating close to the collapsing structure. While early reports confirmed no fatalities, the incident underscores recurring safety vulnerabilities within the export zone, which has witnessed multiple major fires involving plastics and garments earlier in 2026.
Monday’s fire in Landhi Export Processing Zone was not only a blaze. It was another warning from a cluster of factories that keep catching fire.
A used-clothes unit went up in third-degree flames. Part of the building fell. The fire crossed into the next factory. Crews were still working hours later.
Why this fire grew so fast
Used garments burn hot and throw dense smoke. Officials said large stocks of old cloth were inside the building.
That load turned a ground-floor fire into a fully developed blaze. The heat cracked walls and dropped a section of the factory.
Smoke made rescue harder. Three people were reported trapped for a time and overcome by fumes, then pulled out and treated.
Dawn’s first detailed update still said no injuries had been confirmed. Later rescue comments to other newsrooms put those three patients out of danger.
The difference matters for the record. It does not change the larger fact: people were in a building that became unsafe very quickly.
A zone that keeps burning
This was not Landhi EPZ’s first major fire in 2026.
A plastic factory fire earlier in the year spread to nearby units. Other garment and used-clothes fires in the same zone have also taken hours to control.
Each time the script is similar. Thick smoke. Extra tenders called from across Karachi. Rangers on the road. A chief minister’s notice. A promise to investigate after cooling.
What does not appear, at least not in public with any force, is a lasting fix. Factory layouts, storage of highly flammable stock, access for tenders, and on-site hydrants keep coming up after the fact.
An export zone is meant to move goods fast. It is also a packed industrial neighbourhood. When one unit fails, the next one is only a wall away.
Who carried the day
The people who stood closest to the heat were firefighters and rescue crews.
KMC tenders, Rescue 1122, snorkels, bowsers and a disaster-response vehicle worked in shifts. Water was sprayed on crews themselves so they could stay near the building.
Rangers helped with crowd and traffic control. Edhi teams stood ready with ambulances. KW&SC opened hydrants so the hoses would not run dry.
Those are the parts of the story that usually vanish by the next morning. They should not. The building was declared unsafe. The fire was still inside after seven hours. Someone had to stay.
Workers who got out in time were the other quiet success. Officials said staff left when smoke first showed. That early exit is why Monday did not become a mass-casualty event.
What Karachi should ask next
The cause is still listed as unknown. That answer is not enough for a zone with a fire history.
Who stored how much cloth, and on which floors? Were exits clear? Did the unit have working alarms, extinguishers and a drill that staff actually knew?
Was the adjoining factory separated by a proper fire wall, or only by convenience? Why do EPZ fires keep reaching the third-degree mark before the city can surround them?
CM Shah has asked for a report. Reports after Landhi fires are not new. Enforcement after those reports would be.
Until storage rules, inspections and water supply inside the zone change, Monday will read like a sequel, not a shock.
Families waiting for workers at the gate, and crews still damping down hot spots at night, already know the cost of treating each fire as a one-off.
