Dozens missing after massive Karachi mall fire, 19 killed

KARACHI – Pakistani firefighters began searching the smouldering remains of a sprawling Karachi shopping mall on Jan 19 for more than 60 people still missing after a massive fire that killed at least 19 people.

The fire started late on Jan 17 in Gul Plaza, which houses 1,200 shops in a multi-storey complex spread across an area larger than a football field in Karachi’s historic centre. The blaze raged for more than 24 hours before it was mostly extinguished, although officials said small flames were still breaking out among the ruins.

Videos showed fierce flames rising from the building as firefighters laboured through the night to put out the blaze. On Jan 19, they began cooling the structure and clearing twisted metal and debris strewn across the street, along with fallen air-conditioning units and shop signboards.

Rescue workers warned that the remaining structure was unstable and could collapse at any moment.

Most of the building had collapsed by the afternoon on Jan 19, with cranes surrounding the remaining structure amid fears it might collapse.

Mr Qasir Khan said his wife, daughter-in-law and her mother had gone to the mall on the evening of Jan 17 and were among those still missing.

“The bodies will come out in pieces from here. No one will be able to recognise them,” Mr 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 to watch the rescue efforts, including shop owners 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 shop owner Yasmeen Bano.

Mr Sarfraz Sheikh from the non-profit Alkhidmat disaster management agency told Reuters that 19 people had died in the fire and at least 60 others were reported missing.

“There’s no part of the building where things are good or in a state safe enough for someone to come out alive. A miracle is the only thing possible,” he said.

Mr Murad Ali Shah, the chief minister of the southern Sindh province that includes Karachi, had earlier said 15 people were killed, including a firefighter. He added that 80 people were injured in the blaze with 22 already released from hospital.

“We are trying our best that we make the missing persons accounted for. That’s our priority right now,” he said.

Earlier , police chief Javed Alam Odho said: “The rescue efforts are under way, and we hope it can be completed as soon as possible, but I can’t provide a timeframe.”

“As the rescue operations continue, the number of casualties may rise.”

Anger was bubbling when Karachi’s Mayor Murtaza Wahab visited the site on the night of Jan 18 after 23 hours, with people chanting anti-government slogans and protesting about the response time from the fire department, local media reported.

Ms Kosar Bano said six of her family members 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.

“Do you see any hope here?”

‘Heads will roll’

According to rescue services, the authorities received the first emergency call at 10.38pm local time on Jan 17, 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 mall, and slowed efforts to reach people trapped inside.

“It appears to have been caused by a circuit breaker,” Mr Odho told reporters on Jan 18.

“The layout and construction of this market was such, and secondly, the nature of the items in it – such as carpets, blankets and other objects made of resins – so the fire is still simmering because of these.”

Sindh province’s chief minister Shah said the government would launch an inquiry into the cause of the fire and whether there were any mistakes in the rescue efforts.

“I’m admitting that there are faults. I can’t say whose fault is this. An inquiry will be conducted and heads will roll,” he said. “It appears to have been caused by a circuit breaker,” Mr Odho told reporters on Jan 18.

But Mr Shah said the cause of the fire was still unknown.

The blaze at Gul Plaza could be Karachi’s biggest fire 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. REUTERS