Fires swept through two factories in Karachi and Lahore on Tuesday September 11.

More than 250 factory workers were on Tuesday September 11 killed in two fires in the Pakistani cities of Karachi and Lahore. In the deadliest incident, flames raced through a garment factory in the teeming commercial capital of Karachi, killing at least 246 people, Reuters news agency said.

Many other people were injured in the blaze that broke out in the evening, including some who jumped from the burning five-storey building, the BBC said. Some 40 fire-fighting vehicles were used to tackle the fire, an official told local media. Smoke was still rising from the garment factory yesterday September 12 as rescue workers pulled out charred corpses and covered them in white sheets.

Relatives of workers stood around in the street awaiting word of their fate, with many weeping. At a Karachi hospital, about 30 bodies burned beyond recognition were lined up in a morgue. The garment factory employed about 450 people. The cause of the fire was not clear but a wounded worker, Liaqat Hussain, 29, said the blaze engulfed the entire factory within two minutes after starting. Workers were unable to flee because the gate was closed.

In Lahore, the fire swept through a four-storey shoe factory and killed 25 people, some from burns and suffocation, Al Jazeera Television quoted the police as saying. The factory was illegally set up in a residential part of the city. The blaze broke out as workers were trying to start the generator after electricity went out. Sparks from the generator made contact with chemicals used in making shoes, igniting the fire. Pakistan faces widespread blackouts with many people using generators to provide electricity for their houses or to run businesses.

Pakistani textile factories are particularly at risk of fires because of the lethal combination of chemical dyes and stacks of cotton often stored next to each other. Fire exits - as in the case of the factory in Karachi - exist only on paper, a factor for the high numbers of casualties. Moreover, Karachi has a limited number of fire engines to serve the growing needs of the increasingly sprawling metropolis.