KARACHI: The search operation at Karachi’s Gul Plaza continued on Thursday in the wake of a devastating inferno, which has claimed over 60 lives so far.
The fire had erupted at the Gul Plaza on Saturday night. While the fire at the mall located on MA Jinnah Road was said to have been doused after more than 24 hours on Sunday, firefighting efforts had to resume on Monday as flames reignited from the smouldering debris.
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.
Rescue 1122’s urban search and rescue teams continued to comb through the debris overnight, using specialised tools and cutters, including thermal imaging cameras.
Relatives of those still missing have criticised the slow operation at the three-storey plaza, where rescuers are scouring the wreckage for human remains. Some families also staged a protest outside Gul Plaza today.
Meanwhile, the Edhi Foundation said in a statement that three more bodies, which were kept in its morgue after they were pulled from the rubble, had been identified through DNA tests.
One of the three identified deceased men ran a gift shop in Gul Plaza while the other two were employed at different shops in the shopping mall, the statement said.
It added that the bodies had been handed over to the heirs.
Yesterday, Police surgeon Sumaiya Syed told journalists that more than 50 families had given DNA samples for the identification of bodies.
“We will hand over the bodies (remains) to the family once DNA samples are matched,” she said outside the Civil Hospital Karachi mortuary.
Faraz Ali, whose father and 26-year-old brother were inside the mall, told AFP he wants “the bodies to be recovered and handed over to their rightful families”.
“That is all so that the families may receive something, some comfort, some peace. At least let us see them one last time, in whatever condition they are, so that we may say our final goodbye,” the 28-year-old said.
On Wednesday, in a harrowing development, at least 30 bodies were recovered from a gutted shop of the ill-fated plaza.
Karachi South Deputy Inspector General Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that the remains of 30 humans had been recovered from a shop called “Dubai Crockery” located on the mezzanine floor.
He said that earlier in the day, rescue workers had recovered three more bodies, which had taken the toll from 28 to 31. He added that with the discovery of the bodies from the gutted shop, the death toll was estimated to have risen to 61.
SBCA begins fire safety assessments
The Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA), meanwhile, said it had initiated fire safety assessments in Karachi on the directives of Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah.
A statement issued by SBCA Director General (DG) Muzammil Halepoto’s office said fire safety arrangements in 35 of the city’s buildings, including both residential and commercial ones, had been carried out.
It quoted Halepoto as saying that the “functionality of firefighting and emergency systems” was being assessed in the exercise and notices for corrective measures would be issued to the owners of buildings with faulty fire safety systems.
