Rescuers have recovered the bodies of at least 23 people killed in a massive fire at a shopping centre in Pakistan, with dozens still missing.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze at the multi-storey Gul Plaza in the country’s largest city of Karachi late on Sunday, nearly 24 hours after it erupted.
Rescue teams were then able to enter the building to retrieve the dead, with authorities fearing the number killed could rise as they search for 46 more people, according to city police chief Asad Raza.
He told the Associated Press news agency that only six bodies had been identified so far. The rest will need DNA testing because the “bodies were beyond recognition”, police surgeon Dr Summaiya Sye said.
Footage showed flames tearing through the building as firefighters worked through the night to put out the fire.
Most of the building had crumbled by Monday afternoon, with cranes surrounding the remaining structure amid fears it might fall down.
The fire spread rapidly through shops storing cosmetics, garments and plastic goods, according to the city’s chief rescue officer, Dr Abid Jalal Shaikh.
The Sindh provincial chief minister told a news conference that those killed included a firefighter.
Murad Ali Shah said the government would provide 10 million rupees (£82,000) in compensation to the family of each person killed.
He said 80 people were injured in the blaze, with 22 already released from hospital.
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‘Heads will roll’
On Sunday night, people chanted anti-government slogans and protested about the response time from the fire department when Karachi’s mayor Murtaza Wahab visited the site, local media reported.
Rescue services said they first received an emergency call at 10.38pm (5.38pm GMT) on Sunday, reporting ground-floor shops were on fire, and by the time firefighters arrived, the flames had already spread to the upper floors and engulfed much of the building.
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Firefighters said Gul Plaza’s lack of ventilation caused thick smoke to fill the building, slowing efforts to reach people trapped inside.
Mr Shah said: “I’m admitting that there are faults. I can’t say whose fault this is. An inquiry will be conducted and heads will roll.”
The cause of the fire is not yet known and police said an investigation is under way.
A history of deadly fires
Karachi has a history of deadly fires, with most buildings in the city and elsewhere in the country lacking fire prevention and firefighting systems.
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In November 2023, 10 people were killed and 22 injured in a fire at another shopping centre in the city. In 2012, a massive fire at a garment factory in the city killed 260 people.
