A fire swept through seven floors of a 17-story office building in the southern Pakistan port city of Karachi on Sunday, killing one man and injuring four firefighters, officials said. It was the second major blaze in the building in half a year, according to dpa. Flames and thick gray smoke poured from the building after the blaze started on the fourth floor and strong winds swept it up to the 10th story, said Babar Ghauri, minister for ports and shipping. Initial reports suggested that the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit in the building, which is owned by the state-run Pakistan National Shipping Corp., Ghauri said. An official of the shipping company who was helping to put out the fire passed out after inhaling smoke and doctors pronounced him dead on arrival at a hospital, Ghauri said. Four firefighters were injured by glass shards and debris, Karachi Mayor Mustafa Kamal said. Most offices in the building were closed on Sunday. An engineer working on a communication tower on top of the building was rescued by a navy helicopter, Ghauri said. Another fire in February caused by a short circuit damaged five other floors of the building _ the 12th to 16th _ he said.
