KARACHI: Gul Plaza deaths surge to 60 on Wednesday after rescue teams recovered 30 bodies from a single shop inside the fire-ravaged shopping complex on M.A. Jinnah Road, marking one of Karachi’s deadliest commercial building disasters in over a decade.
Speaking to the media, South DIG Syed Asad Raza said the bodies were recovered from a crockery shop located on the mezzanine floor, where victims had reportedly locked themselves inside in a desperate attempt to escape the inferno.
The shop’s owner, Suleman, said 14 bodies were recovered from his shop alone, adding that his cousins, employees, and customers were present inside when the fire erupted.
Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said the remains of 21 bodies from two shops had been shifted to Civil Hospital Karachi, cautioning that it was not yet possible to determine whether the remains belonged to exactly 21 individuals or more. She confirmed that since Wednesday morning, only severely burned remains have been brought to the hospital.
Meanwhile, District South Deputy Commissioner Javed Nabi Khoso said the building would not be demolished until every missing person is accounted for, stressing that human life remains the top priority.
According to the DC, 86 people are still missing, while the location of 39 missing individuals has been traced back to Gul Plaza. He said 11 bodies have been identified so far, while 17 recovered bodies remain unidentified and are undergoing forensic and DNA analysis.
The Gul Plaza fire, which broke out late Saturday night, engulfed a massive commercial complex housing around 1,200 shops spread across an area larger than a football field. The blaze raged for more than 24 hours before being extinguished, leaving behind widespread destruction and structural collapse.
DC Khoso said several parts of the building remain inaccessible due to intense heat and lingering smoke, adding that cooling operations are still underway. Rescue efforts are being conducted both manually and with heavy machinery, with debris removal continuing from collapsed sections.
“There is no haste in this operation because it involves human lives,” he said, adding that rescue teams are proceeding cautiously while adhering to technical safety requirements.
Addressing concerns about rescue delays, KMC Fire Officer Zafar Khan said the building lacked emergency exits and fire extinguishers, describing the structure as dangerously unsafe. He added that although three fire tenders were dispatched immediately, the narrow access roads and sheer scale of the fire severely hampered firefighting efforts.
Khan further said rescue operations were complicated by chaos among shopkeepers, each trying to save their own businesses, while one section of the building has been cleared and two others remain under search.
The adjacent Rimpa Plaza has been temporarily sealed after the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) declared parts of it structurally unsafe due to damage caused by the collapse of Gul Plaza. The SBCA has ordered immediate evacuation and repair work under the supervision of qualified structural engineers, warning of legal action in case of non-compliance.
Separately, Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah revealed that a fire safety audit of Karachi buildings, conducted in January 2024, identified 266 buildings that failed to meet fire safety regulations. He said the report was finally submitted to Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, who expressed displeasure over the delay and ordered the installation of fire alarms in all buildings.
Authorities have reiterated that there is no evidence of terrorism in the Gul Plaza fire so far, while investigations continue to determine the exact cause of the blaze and assess accountability.
