Pakistan: Massive Fire At Mehran Hotel In Karachi Leads To Postponement Of Women's National One-Day Cup; VIDEO

Karachi: A fire broke out at Karachi's famous Mehran Hotel in Pakistan on Monday. The incident has prompted Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to postpone the National One-Day Tournament 2024-25, said reports.

It is being reported that the all the team members participating in the Women's National One-Day Cup were staying in the hotel when the fire broke out. The cricket board took the decision of postponement of the tournament citing the safety and health of the female players.

Luckily, all the players were safely evacuated from the building by the fire department. There are reports that the tournament has been postponed by the PCB as there are no other hotel available in Karachi where all the players could be accommodated. The hotels in Karachi does not have enough rooms which led the PCB to postpone the tournament.

The cricket board have instructed all the female players present at the hotel during the time of the incident to return to their home as the decision was made to postpone the Women's National One-Day Cup.

As per reports, a fire broke out on the third floor of the hotel which is located in Shahrah-e-Faisal in Karachi. The fire department rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control.

The Rescue 1122 Sindh said in a statement that they received information about the fire, after which they rushed to the spot and initiated that rescue operation. They faced difficulties in controlling the fire, however, they managed to bring the fire under control by around 2 PM on Monday by breaking the windows of the windows.

No casualties have been reported in the incident and all the individuals present inside the hotel during the time of the fire were safely evacuated from the building.

The PCB said in a statement, "The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to curtail the National Women’s One-Day Tournament 2024-25 in Karachi following a fire incident at the team hotel. Fortunately, no players were injured, as the PCB promptly evacuated the five players in the hotel at the time of the incident and relocated them safely to the Hanif Mohammad High-Performance Centre. On Monday, four sides were involved in the fifth-round matches, while Strikers were training at a training session."

It further said, "The decision to truncate the tournament was made with the health and safety of the players as the top priority. Additionally, the unavailability of alternative accommodations to meet the approximately 100 rooms of the required standards for contributed to this outcome."

PCB also said, "To determine the tournament winner, the PCB has decided that the Invincibles and the Stars - the top two teams after four matches each - will face off in the final. The date and venue for the final will be announced in due course."

It is being claimed on social media that the fire occurred due to a short-circuit in the room where Fariha Mahmood was staying. Her laptop, clothes and other valuables were burnt due to the fire erupted in the room. However, the reason behind the fire is not known yet.

The social media user said, "A fire broke out in Karachi's Mehran Hotel due to which the National Women's ODI Cup was postponed... Fakhta has told that a fire broke out in the room of Fareeha Mehmood, a player of Nida Dar's team strikers. Fariha Mahmood was present in the room when the fire broke out due to short circuit. Fariha Mehmood's laptop, clothes, valuables were all burnt to ashes... Players were worried due to the poor arrangements of the hotel, Alia Riaz's team suffered stomach upset due to poor and substandard food, Alia Riaz's team was sick. Couldn't even go to the ground because of it. .Women players had lodged complaints about hotel food several times..Management of Women's National Championship did not resolve the problem."