RAWALPINDI: More than 150 people, including families, were evacuated from a four-storey building housing residential apartments and shops on Liaquat Road in Rawalpindi after a fire broke out on the second floor.

Smoke quickly spread throughout the building in the early hours of Sunday.

According to witnesses, young residents escaped by jumping onto the rooftops of adjoining buildings, while elderly people were rescued by Rescue 1122 staff using ladders as thick black smoke engulfed the building.

Rescue services and firefighting crews were called to the affected building, which contained residential apartments, shops and a basement parking area.

The fire erupted before dawn, and the firefighting operation continued for more than two hours.

Ten vehicles, including six fire engines and two ambulances, took part in the operation.

Panic and fear spread among residents of the surrounding areas and the shop owners in the building. Shortly after firefighters arrived, police reached the site and cordoned off the area to keep people away while the operation was underway.

Mohsin Khan, who owns a photocopier shop in the building, told Dawn that he lives with his brother in an adjacent building and saw smoke everywhere around the site.

`All of my copier machines, computer and other equipment have turned into ashes,` he said, adding, `my brother tried to go inside to remove the printing and photocopy machines, but I stopped him because his life was precious than the equipment.

Another resident said more than a dozen shops suffered smoke and fire damage.

However, the fire department has yet to establish the cause.

An eyewitness, Amir Shahzad, told Dawn that when he reached the spot, he found thick black smoke everywhere and young people running across rooftops to save themselves.

Others, he said, were rescued by Rescue 1122 staff using a long ladder.

Another area resident said Rescue 1122 had earlier distributed notices to residents and shopkeepers, urging them to keep access ways clear, maintain fire extinguishers, and adopt other safety measures.

However, no one followed up to ensure compliance. The multi-storey building had no fire extinguishing system or equipment.

It was located only a few metres from the Liaquat Road U-turn, where former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a gun and bomb attack outside Liaquat Bagh in December 2007.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.