Pakistan cricketer Maqsood has narrow escape in Karachi hotel fire

Pakistan cricketer Sohaib Maqsood, who has played 26 ODIs and 20 T20Is, had a narrow escape as the hotel where he was staying in here caught fire. At least 11 people, including three women, were killed and 75 others injured when a huge fire here ripped through a four-star hotel, the fourth blaze to hit Pakistan’s largest city in the last two weeks.

The blaze broke out in the kitchen located at the ground floor of the Regent Plaza hotel at the city’s Shahrah-i- Faisal and spread across the six-floor building, trapping nearly 100 hotel guests in their rooms.

Three fire tenders of the fire brigade reached the site and started an operation to rescue the guests. The firefighters were able to contain the fire after three hours, with 11 people having been killed, said Faisal Edhi of the Edhi Foundation.

A crucial match of the Quaide-Azam Trophy was abandoned after members of the competing teams suffered trauma and injuries due to the incident.

Two teams, United bank and Sui Southern Gas, were staying at the Hotel Regent. Three members of the UBL team including Pakistan all-rounder Hammad Azam, spinner Yasim Murtaza and Karamat suffered injuries while trying to escape from the fire while other players were traumatized by the experience included batsmen Shaan Masood and Sohaib Maqsood.

A team official said Murtaza had jumped from the second floor to escape and fractured his leg.