Karachi, Pakistan. Firefighters in Karachi began pulling bodies from the smouldering remains of Gul Plaza on Monday, as at least 19 people were reported dead and more than 60 still missing after a massive fire.
Fire and damage at Gul Plaza
The fire started late on Saturday at Gul Plaza, a multi-storey shopping complex in Karachi’s historic centre that houses 1,200 shops and covers an area larger than a football field. The blaze raged for more than 24 hours before it was mostly extinguished.
Videos showed flames ripping through the building as firefighters worked through the night. On Monday, crews cooled the structure and cleared twisted metal and debris from the street, including fallen air-conditioning units and shop signboards.
Most of the building had crumbled by Monday afternoon, with cranes surrounding the remaining structure amid fears it might collapse.
Search efforts and missing persons
Rescue workers carried human remains out in sacks and paused to drink water after enduring intense heat. Hundreds of people gathered around the building as teams searched for survivors, including shopowners who said their businesses were destroyed.
Qasir Khan said his wife, daughter-in-law and her mother went to the mall on Saturday evening and were among those still missing. He blamed the rescue effort for not being swift enough and said more people could have been saved.
Shopowner Yasmeen Bano said the fire wiped out decades of work, adding that her business had been reduced to zero.
Casualty figures
Sarfraz Sheikh of 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.
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