Rescue operation continues as dozens remain missing after Gul Plaza fire

• Firefighters search for around 70 missing people.
• Rescue efforts hampered by unstable structure, debris.
• Anger rising over response speed, govt orders inquiry.
  

Firefighters and rescue personnel are pulling bodies from the smouldering remains of the sprawling Gul Plaza in Karachi on Monday, where around 70 people are still missing after a massive fire that killed at least 26.

The city’s biggest fire in over a decade started late on Saturday, which houses 1,200 shops in the 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 shopowner Yasmeen Bano.

Vehicles recovered from Gul Plaza rooftop

Rescue teams are clearing Gul Plaza’s rooftop with the help of cranes, with several vehicles already recovered from the gutted building.

At least seven cars have been retrieved, with rescue officials confirming two vehicles, in proper condition, have been handed over to their respective owners, who drove them away to secure locations themselves.

The operation to remove vehicles from the rooftop is currently underway.

A trader, Aamir, expressed surprise at the recovery, saying: “Remarkably, both of our cars are safe.”

He added that cars and motorcycles had been parked on the commercial building’s rooftop. The trader added that two people who worked at his shop are unaccounted for. 

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.

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

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.

Identification of bodies continues

DNA samples have been collected from 20 bodies at Civil Hospital, a police surgeon said, adding that 48 families have already submitted their samples.

DIG South Asad Raza also confirmed that DNA samples are being taken from family members of missing persons and being sent to the Sindh Forensic DNA and Serology Laboratory.

He added that DNA samples from 21 bodies have already been taken for forensic analysis, and cross-matching will continue over the next three days.

The provincial forensic lab at the University of Karachi has received samples from bodies recovered in the Gul Plaza tragedy, sources told Geo News.

They added samples from six bodies that were severely burnt in the fire have been sent to the forensic lab alongside 10 reference samples. The identification of the victims would take time, the sources said.

Thick smoke filled the building

According to rescue services, authorities received the first emergency call at 10:38pm 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,” Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali 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 could be 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.