Pakistan fires prompt criminal investigation Survivors described leaping from windows to escape the flames, while colleagues were left trapped behind barred windows and locked doors. Mohammad Ilyas, speaking from hospital, said he was working with about 50 other men and women when suddenly a fireball came from the staircase. I jumped from my seat as did others and rushed toward the windows, but iron bars on the windows barred us from escaping. Some of us quickly took tools and machines to break the iron bars," he said. That was how we managed to jump out of the windows down to the ground floor. The fire started on Tuesday evening, when as many as 500 workers would have been in the factory producing underwear that sells around the world. It raged for more than 15 hours before firefighters managed to bring the fire under control. For much of Wednesday, flames continued to smoulder as rescue workers carried out body after body covered in white sheets. If there were no metal grilles on the windows a lot of people would have been saved. The factory was overflowing with garments and fabrics. Whoever complained was fired. Witnesses described seeing a carbonised body caught in window bars, apparently trapped trying to escape. The fire broke out hours after 25 people died in a fire in a shoe factory in the eastern city of Lahore. Workers blamed the factory's electricity generator and initial investigations suggested sparks had ignited chemicals used to make the shoes. The country's Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, said he had ordered an inquiry into both fires, following reports that the Karachi factory was poorly built and had only a single exits. But government critics say previous tragedies have never prompted a tightening of regulations. Noman Ahmed, from the NED University of Engineering and Technology in Karachi, said businesses found it easy to evade safety legislation because of lax monitoring. "Most of our shopping centres and markets too have no safety mechanism, which the authorities should review seriously, otherwise it could cause graver tragedies in future," he said. Baroness Warsi, Senior Foreign Office Minister, whose family come from Pakistan, said she was saddened by the tragedy. I send my heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of all the victims. Our thoughts and prayers are with them," she said.