Rescue efforts continued on Tuesday at Karachi’s Gul Plaza after a deadly inferno that claimed at least 23 lives, with teams now clearing the basement of the shopping mall, Mayor Murtaza Wahab said.
The fire had erupted on Saturday night. The plaza, parts of which collapsed due to the blaze, was a ground-plus-three-storey building with 1,200 shops spread over 8,000 square yards.
While the fire at the mall located on M.A Jinnah Road was said to be doused after more than 24 hours on Sunday, firefighting efforts had to resume on Monday as flames reignited from the smouldering debris.
Mayor Wahab supervised the rescue operation overnight. He said that the “blaze has been brought under control with the joint action of district administration, rescue agencies and Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC)”.
He detailed that the rescue teams were not clearing the debris and had entered the basement of the mall.
Mayor Wahab assured that “all possible help will be provided to the affected families”.
He vowed that “until all missing persons are found and the rescue operation is completed, all departments of the KMC are to remain on high alert”.
Heavy machinery was also brought in to clear the mall’s roof, the mayor said.
The rescue teams have begun removing vehicles parked on the roof using cranes.
The mayor added that the heavy machinery will be present at the site until the operation is completed.
On late Monday night, Karachi South Deputy Inspector General Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that 23 bodies had been recovered from the debris. He added that the body parts of some of the victims had been recovered.
In a statement, Rescue 1122 Chief Operating Officer (COO) Dr Abid Jalal said that while “more than 20 bodies have been recovered, the final number of dead cannot be stated at the moment”.
“Some bodies have been recovered in the form of body parts from various locations,” he said.
“Until it is determined through a technical and forensic verification whether these parts are of the same person or different people, confirming the correct number [of deaths] is difficult.”
‘65 people remain missing’
On Monday, speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada ke Saath’, Mayor Wahab said that the tally thus far showed that 65 people were missing.
“Others are saying there are 77 missing, but I can confirm that it is 65,” Wahab said. “Of those 65, we have retrieved and identified 18 bodies. We have retrieved other bodies, but they have not been identified; we are waiting on DNA,” he said.
He said that firefighting operations had concluded, and cooling work was ongoing.
“We have been able to access three areas of the building: we can enter two areas where the structure is still standing, and one portion in the rear that collapsed,” Wahab said.
The mayor added that until last night, reports of movement were received, but when rescuers accessed those areas, there were no signs of life.
He said that rescue workers had been told to be mindful of this and instructed to drill with caution.
Asked about which institutions were responsible, the mayor said that assigning responsibility was not the primary focus at the moment. He said that an inquiry committee had been formed to ascertain the facts.
He said that 1,200 shops were active in the plaza. “Over the years, naturally, problems emerged which need to be investigated for negligence,” he said.
