Karachi shopping plaza fire death toll rises to 23 with dozens more missing
Rescuers are still looking for 46 more people.
The death toll from a massive fire at a shopping plaza in Karachi has risen to 23 after rescuers recovered more bodies from the damaged building, police said.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze at the multi-storey Gul Plaza late on Sunday, nearly 24 hours after it erupted, allowing rescue teams to enter the building. Authorities fear the death toll will rise as they look for 46 more people, according to city police chief Asad Raza.
He told the Associated Press on Monday that only six bodies had been identified so far. The rest will need DNA testing as the “bodies were beyond recognition”, police surgeon Dr Summaiya Sye said.
Sindh provincial chief minister Murad Ali Shah told a news conference in Pakistan’s largest city that rescue teams were searching for survivors and the dead.
He said those killed in the blaze included a firefighter. He added that the government would provide 10 million rupees (£82,000) in compensation to the family of each person killed.
The fire spread quickly through shops storing cosmetics, garments and plastic goods, said Dr Abid Jalal Sheikh, the city’s chief rescue officer.
Relatives of the missing waited outside the burned-out plaza on Monday, hoping for news.
Qaiser Ali said his daughter, daughter-in-law and sister went shopping on Saturday and were inside the building when the fire broke out. He said he had spoken to all three by mobile phone until Sunday, when they went silent.
“I don’t know what has happened to them or whether they are alive,” he told the Associated Press. “We are praying that all those missing come out safely.”
Mohammad Abrar said he managed to escape the fire but his brother, Saifur Rehman, who owns a shop in the plaza, was left behind.
The cause of the fire is not yet known. Police said an investigation is under way.
Karachi, the capital of Sindh province, has a history of deadly fires, often blamed on poor safety standards and illegal construction. In November 2023, a blaze at a shopping centre in the city killed 10 people and injured 22 others.
A massive fire at a garments factory in Karachi in 2012 killed 260 people.
