At least 30 people were burnt to death in a big fire that broke out in southern Pakistan's Karachi city early Friday morning.

The big fire engulfed about two dozen hutments in Sector 5 of North Karachi, opposite Bilal Colony a little after midnight, leaving at least 30 people including women and children dead, the official Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

A private TV channel Geo put the death toll at 40.

No cause of the fire eruption, in huts made of sticks, could be reported. The deadly blazes overwhelmed around 15 to 20 cabins and huts and completely burnt them down.

Because people were fast asleep, they could not get themselves rescued after the outbreak of inferno, according to the Geo TV channel.

Fire Brigade reached the scene and started making hectic efforts to control the fire. Dozens of ambulances reached the spot and shifted the dead and the injured to hospitals where an emergency was declared.

Rescue teams arrived and started rescue operation and local people also gathered there in large number and extended help in rescue operation.

(Xinhua News Agency January 9, 2009)