At least 19 people have died and many are missing in a huge fire at a shopping mall in Karachi
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Pakistani firefighters began pulling bodies from a shopping mall in Karachi on Monday, where more than 60 people were still missing after a massive fire that killed at least 19 people.
The fire broke out late on Saturday at Gul Plaza, which has 1,200 shops in a multi-storey complex spread over an area bigger than a football field. The fire at Karachi’s historic center raged for more than 24 hours before it was largely extinguished.
Videos showed flames engulfing the building as firefighters worked through the night to put out the blaze. On Monday, they started to cool down the building and remove twisted metal and debris that littered the road, as well as fallen air-conditioners and shop signs.
Most of the building had collapsed by Monday afternoon, with cranes circling the remaining structure for fear of collapse.
Qasir Khan said his wife, daughter-in-law and mother went to the mall on Saturday night and they are some of the others who are still missing.
“The bodies will come out of here in pieces. No one will be able to see them,” Khan said, blaming the rescue effort for not being fast enough. “They could have saved a lot of people.”
Hundreds of people surrounded the building as rescue teams searched for survivors, including shopkeepers whose livelihoods were reduced to ashes overnight.
“We’ve been left high and dry, down to zero – 20 years of hard work, all gone,” said shop owner Yasmeen Bano.
Anger boils over in response
The rescuers were taking out the bodies of people in sacks, stopping to drink water after the intense heat.
Sarfraz Sheikh of the non-profit disaster management organization Alkhidmat told Reuters that 19 people had died in the fire and at least 60 others were reported missing.
“There is no part of the building where things are good or in a safe condition for a person to get out alive. A miracle is a possibility,” he said.
Murad Ali Shah, chief minister of the southern province of Sindh, which includes Karachi, had earlier put the death toll at 15, including a firefighter. He added that 80 people were injured in the fire, 22 of whom have been discharged from the hospital.
Anger was simmering when Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab visited the area on Sunday night, with people chanting anti-government slogans and protesting the fire department’s response time, media reported.
Kosar Bano said six people in his family had gone to the mall to buy a wedding. The last time he heard from them, they said they would be home in 15 minutes.
“The only hope we have is how many hands we will get, how many fingers we will get and how many legs we will get. That’s all,” he said.
“Is there any hope you see here?”
An investigation will be conducted
According to rescuers, the authorities received the first emergency call at 10:38 pm local time on Saturday, reporting that the downstairs shops were on fire. By the time firefighters arrived, the flames had spread to the upper floors, covering most of the building.
Pictures from inside the mall showed the charred remains of shops and a bright orange glow as flames continued to rip through the building.
Firefighters said that Gul Plaza’s lack of ventilation caused thick smoke in the building and slowed efforts to find people trapped inside.
“I agree that there are mistakes. I will not say whose mistake it is. It will be investigated and heads will be put together,” said Shah.
Provincial police chief Javed Alam Odho said earlier that the fire was caused by an electrical problem, but Shah said the cause is still unknown.
The fire could be the biggest in Karachi since an industrial complex went up in flames in 2012, killing more than 260 people. The court ruled in 2020 that the disaster involved arson.
