[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text dp_text_size=”size-4″]On Tuesday, a fire ripped through the camp of a Chinese company overseeing the construction of a remote hydropower dam in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, according to officials.
Since 2015, Beijing has poured billions of dollars into Pakistan through the China Pakistan Economic Corridor investment scheme (CPEC).
Despite persistent terrorist threats, private firms have flocked across the border to service contracts on ambitious infrastructure projects.
According to police, the pre-dawn blaze on Tuesday destroyed a warehouse complex for the Dasu hydropower project in the Kohistan district.
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“It was a massive fire,” said a Rescue 1122 official on the scene to AFP. “At first, the flames were very high, and we had to call in fire trucks from two other districts.”
“Apart from oil drums, there was also stationery and machinery stored in the large warehouse. Everything was destroyed in the fire “He went on to say.
The water ministry awarded the Dasu dam construction contract to China Gezhouba Group Company in 2017.
The camp housed Chinese engineers, surveyors, and mechanics, but no one was injured or killed, according to police and Rescue 1122.
According to one police official, the fire was started by an electrical fault.
In July 2021, 12 people were killed aboard a bus carrying staff to the Dasu site, including nine Chinese workers, with Beijing claiming it was a bomb attack.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
