KARACHI: Seven paramedics of the Sindh Government Hospital Liaquatabad suffered burn injuries when a fire erupted in its emergency department on Sunday evening, officials said.

They said that fire brigadewas called and it managed to put out the blaze within minutes. However, it is not clear as to whether the hospital had proper firefighting equipment or not.

When contacted, the caretaker health minister chose not to answer whether the hospital lacked firefighting equipment.

He, however, said that an inquiry body had been formed.

The fire caused a significant damage to the people as two of the wounded suffered 100 per centburnsandtheirconditionis said to be precarious. Three motorcycles were also gutted in the fire, they added.

They said that a short circuit took place in the emergency ward, which set of f a fire and thecompressor of a fridge, in which medicines were kept, exploded at around 4.30pm.

Central SSP Zeeshan Shafiq Siddiqi said that the police rushed to the spot after receiving information that an `explosion` took place inside the hospital.

A Bomb Disposal Squad team was also called to ascertain the exact cause of the `explosion`.

After inspection, it ruled that it was not a bomb blast.

`Seven people were injured in the fire and they were taken to the Burns Centre of the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi for treatment,` the SSP said.

Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed said that all the injuredwere paramedical staff of the hospital. They were performing their duty in the hospital when an `explosion` occurred which caused fire resulting in burn wounds to them.

She said that the condition of four wounded persons was serious.

The police surgeon said that the victims Abdul Sattar, 43, with 100pc burn wounds; Asif Irfan George, 43, with 100pc burns; Abdul Haseeb, 38, with 89pc burns; Mahesh Arjun, 28, with 62pc; Kashif Mansoor, 44, with 28pc burns; Hamza Khan, 27, with 23pc burns; and Musharraf Husain, 55, with 19pc burns had been admitted for treatment.

The police surgeon said thatthe patients were in `terrible` condition as the respiratory tract of six of them had been damaged, causing breathing problems for them.

A spokesperson for the Sindh Government`s Rescue-1122 said that the fire was controlled immediately and cooling work started.

The spokesperson said that the BDS was called for investigation of the explosion.

The BDS experts, in their report, stated that the fire erupted in the hospital`s emergency department on the ground floor.

There was a storeroom where an electric short circuit trig gered the fire, resultantly the compressor of the fridge exploded. It caused some minor damages to the room and burn wounds to some persons.

The BDS team searched visually and with detectors but no `detonating or explosive device/material` was found, according to the report seen by Dawn.

Inquiry committee formed Caretaker Health Minister Dr Saad Niaz told Dawn that an inquiry committee had been formed to investigate the fire incident at the hospital.

`The inquiry committee has been asked to submit a report within three days,` he added.

According to an order issued by the Director General of Health Services Sindh, a committee headed by Sindh Govt Children Hospital North Nazimabad medical superintendent Dr Nadeem Shaikh and comprising CHK MS Dr Khalid Bukhari, Director-Health Services Karachi Dr Saqib Shaikh and Engineer Zulfiqar Ali Shaikh has been constituted. It may co-opt members of the relevant field for providing technical assistance to the inquiry.

Thebodyhasbeendirectedtoprobethefactsand fix responsibility regarding the fire incident.