Dozens missing after massive Karachi mall fire, 21 killed

KARACHI, – Pakistani firefighters began pulling bodies from the smouldering remains of a sprawling Karachi shopping mall on Monday where more than 60 people were still missing after a massive fire that killed at least 21.

The city’s biggest fire in over a decade started late on Saturday at Gul Plaza, which houses 1,200 shops in a multi-storey complex spread across an area larger than a football field. The blaze in Karachi’s historic centre raged for more than 24 hours before it was mostly extinguished.

Videos showed flames ripping through the building as firefighters laboured through the night to put out the blaze. On Monday, they began cooling the structure and clearing twisted metal and debris strewn across the street, along with fallen air-conditioning units and shop signboards.

Most of the building had crumbled by Monday afternoon; cranes demolished the remaining structure amid fears it might collapse.

Qasir Khan said his wife, daughter-in-law and her mother had gone to the mall on Saturday evening and were among those still missing.

“The bodies will come out in pieces from here. No one will be able to recognise them,” Khan said, blaming the rescue effort for not being swift enough. “They could have saved a lot of people.”

Hundreds of people surrounded the building as rescue teams searched for survivors, including shopowners whose life’s work was reduced to ash overnight.

“We’ve been left high and dry, reduced to zero; 20 years of hard work, all gone,” said shopkeeper Yasmeen Bano.

ANGER OVER THE FIRE

Rescue workers were bringing human remains out in sacks before sending them for DNA testing. They stopped regularly to drink water after enduring intense heat from the debris.

Mohammed Ameen, who was running operations at the site for the Edhi emergency services non-profit, said 21 people had died in the fire, including a child.

Murad Ali Shah, chief minister of the southern province of Sindh that includes Karachi, told reporters that 65 people were still missing while 22 others who were injured by the flames had been discharged from hospital.

“In this time of grief and hardship, we stand with the affected families and the Sindh government,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement.

Anger was bubbling when Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab visited the site on Sunday night, with people chanting anti-government slogans and protesting over the response time from the fire department, local media reported.

Kosar Bano said six of her family had gone to the mall to shop for a wedding. The last time she heard from them, they said they would be home in 15 minutes.

“The only hope we have is how many hands we will find, how many fingers we will find, and how many legs we will find. That’s it,” she said.

THICK SMOKE FILLED THE BUILDING

According to rescue services, authorities received the first emergency call at 10:38 p.m. on Saturday, reporting that ground-floor shops were on fire. By the time firefighters arrived, the flames had already spread to the upper floors, engulfing much of the building.

Images of the mall’s interior revealed the charred remains of stores and a bright orange glow as flames continued to rise throughout the building.

Firefighters said Gul Plaza’s lack of ventilation caused thick smoke to fill the building and slowed efforts to reach people trapped inside.

“I’m admitting that there are faults. I can’t say whose fault this is. An inquiry will be conducted and heads will roll,” Shah said.

Provincial police chief Javed Alam Odho earlier said the fire was caused by an electrical fault, but Shah said the reason was still unknown.

The blaze is Karachi’s biggest since an industrial site went up in flames in 2012, killing more than 260 people. A court ruled in 2020 that the disaster involved arson.

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