By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: Rescue workers pulled more bodies from the charred remains of a popular shopping mall in Karachi on Monday, pushing the death toll from a weekend fire to at least 23, while dozens of people stayed unaccounted for in what has become one of the city’s deadliest blazes in years.
The blaze, which ravaged a packed shopping center in this teeming metropolis of over 20 million, has once again laid bare the deadly toll of Karachi’s chronic problems with overcrowding, aging buildings and lax fire safety rules that have turned commercial hubs into tinderboxes.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah promised 10 million rupees to the families of those killed and said the government would work to rebuild the destroyed plaza, even as pockets of fire flared up again in the rubble, keeping crews on high alert.
The fire broke out late Saturday at Gul Plaza, a busy spot on M.A. Jinnah Road packed with bargain hunters, and it took firefighters over a day to bring it mostly under control by Sunday. On Monday, though, smoke and flames popped up from the debris, sending teams back in. Statements from the Edhi Foundation and Rescue 1122 around 4 pm confirmed the higher count after more remains turned up at the site, with the bodies headed to Civil Hospital Karachi.
Dr. Abid Jalal, who runs operations for Rescue 1122, said they had found over 20 bodies so far but couldn’t pin down an exact total yet. Some came in pieces from different parts of the building, he added, and it would take lab work to sort out if they were from the same people or not. “Until we get that technical check done, it’s hard to say for sure,” Jalal said. Police took DNA samples from eight families to help identify remains.
Shah, speaking to reporters with local business owners, laid out the payout plan. “You can’t put a value on someone’s life, and no amount fixes the pain, but we’re giving 10 million rupees per family starting tomorrow,” he said. He didn’t give a firm number on the dead but mentioned it might hit 80. “This is a huge loss, and we’re all feeling it with the families.”
The search went on with teams from urban rescue units using heavy gear to dig through the mess safely. Jalal said they had three groups working at once in five areas, plus a crew handling cooling to keep things from heating up again. The building took a bad hit, he warned — unstable and could come down anytime — so they moved carefully, step by step. A Pakistan Navy rescuer, Mohammed Shah, said the fire was out but smoke kept coming because it had burned deep. His team had been at it for two full days.
Rescue 1122’s Hassaanul Haseeb Khan said they had the flames 95 percent handled and were starting to cool things off. They still didn’t know what started it, though early guesses pointed to bad wiring. The fire gutted more than 1,200 shops stuffed with clothes, gadgets and other wares, hitting hard during Pakistan’s busy wedding shopping rush and leaving traders reeling from losses they put at over $10 million. “We’ve been left high and dry, reduced to zero; 20 years of hard work, all gone,” said Yasmeen Bano, a shop owner who could only stand by as the inferno swallowed her livelihood.
The fire ignited at 10:14 p.m. Saturday in a ground-floor shop peddling fake flowers and pots, racing up through stuffy levels loaded with easy-to-burn stock. Rescue 1122 got the call at 10:38 p.m., but the first trucks rolled up at 10:57 p.m. “When we arrived, the fire from the ground floor had spread to the upper floors, and almost the entire building was already engulfed in flames,” Khan said. Narrow doors — 14 to 16 total — filled with smoke blocked entry, a water crunch hit early thanks to nearby roadwork slowing tankers, and jammed streets held back help. Deputy Inspector General Asad Raza said the plaza had 16 doors total, but only three were open when the fire hit — two up top and one below.
Authorities said 16 fire trucks and water tankers were used, with 50 to 60 firefighters on the job. The water board supplied 431,000 gallons. In all, 24 rescue vehicles from the city, navy and others joined in. Governor Kamran Tessori, who stopped by the site, said more than 70 were gone. “This is a big shock, turning into a tragedy for the whole country,” Tessori said.
Shah set up a probe team under Karachi Commissioner Hassan Naqvi to look into what happened, not to finger-point but to fix mistakes. “If it turns out to be foul play, we’ll act, but nothing shows that now,” he said. Rescuers had cut three paths into the building, he explained, and 40 percent was already gone, with the rest shaky. “We might have to tear it all down.” Still, he wanted to get businesses back up, and he met with traders to plan short- and long-term help, like after fires at Bolton Market in 2009 and Timber Market in 2014. One issue, Shah said, was that outsiders got in the way of rescuers. “We all played a part in that, including me,” he admitted. Before the press talk, Shah met traders. “We’ll rebuild Gul Plaza.” He’d get a forensic check on the cause, and the chief secretary would handle the fact-finding.
A crowd swelled near the plaza, pushing to get inside the crumbling structure and calling for justice, but police reinforcements cleared them out, broadcasting warnings that fire-weakened pillars might give way at any second. Among the anguished was Raheel Ibrahim, who spoke of his cousin, Naveed Juma, a 43-year-old shop worker on the mall’s first floor and father of three young daughters. “My cousin was inside,” Ibrahim said. “His phone was ringing till 12 a.m. [on Saturday] but he did not receive calls.” After that, the line went dead, leaving Ibrahim and his family in limbo.
Nearby, an elderly man from the Metroville neighborhood recounted how his daughter, daughter-in-law and sister had headed to the mall for Saturday evening shopping. “We have had no contact with them after 8 p.m. that night,” he said, his voice breaking as he described being shuttled between officials like “a football,” with no clear answers. He noted that some bodies were so badly burned they required DNA matching, a process authorities said could take days. Another woman, mourning six missing relatives who had been at the mall preparing for a wedding, spoke to reporters amid the acrid smoke still hanging in the air. Gul Plaza Traders Association President Tanveer Pasta estimated that over 40 shopkeepers and sales staff were among the unaccounted for, their livelihoods — and lives — upended in an instant.
The tragedy drew international condolences. Britain’s high commissioner to Pakistan said she was “heartbroken” by the loss, adding, “May strength be with the community at this time.” The German Consulate in Karachi expressed sorrow on X, saying, “Our thoughts & prayers are with the victims, their families, and those injured.”
Deadly commercial fires keep hitting Karachi, where tight districts, blocked paths, add-ons and missing escapes, alerts or sprinklers make fighting them a nightmare. Rules are on the books, but checks happen rarely, and fines even less, letting bad wires and risky goods build up until sparks fly into catastrophe.
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