Fire continues to spread at Margalla Hills in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: A fire that erupted last night at the Margalla Hills near Pir Sohawa was partially contained on Thursday afternoon, media reported.

The fire was doused at three places and efforts are underway to control the blaze completely, said the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

Fire continues to spread at Margalla Hills in Islamabad

Unavailability of the fire trucks earlier in the day caused the delay the efforts to contain the fire.

The reports have stated that the flames had spread near the main road adjacent to the hills by this morning.

Earlier, the Fire Control Department stated that only the Environment Control Department has the mandate to look into forest fires, hence they are unable to play any role at the moment.

On March 30, a fire broke out in the same forest. It took CDA a day to douse off the fire in which at least 100 firefighters and as many as 150 members of other authorities took part in the operation.

Four helicopters of the Pakistan Army and Air Force were used to extinguish the fire by using Bambi buckets.