At least six people are de@d, and more than a dozen others are injured after a fire swept through a shopping centre in Karachi, Pakistan.
The fire erupted just after 10 pm on Saturday night, Jan. 17 at the Gul Plaza shopping centre on MA Jinnah Road, and continues to burn as firefighters struggle to bring it under control, chief fire officer at Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Hamayun Khan told reporters.
He added that the mall houses around 1,200 shops, including those selling clothes, electrical appliances, cosmetics and crockery, which intensified the blaze.
“So far six de@d bodies have been recovered from the site, including one firefighter,” a spokesperson at KMC said on Sunday.
“Teams are working closely to bring the situation to normal.”
According to local media, most shop owners had closed their stores or already left when the fire broke out and spread quickly.
Garden subdivision police officer Mohsin Raza said initial findings suggested the fire started due to a short circuit in one of the shops, but the cause will be discovered through an investigation.
Most structures in Karachi and other parts of the country lack fire prevention and firefighting systems.
South Deputy Commissioner (DC) Javed Nabi Khoso told Geo News there are around 16 missing people so far.
Two local residents said they were unable to get in contact with six of their family members who went to the shopping centre – three women, two men, and a 14-year-old girl.
TV footage showed firefighters in protective gear battling the flames as thick black smoke billowed into the night sky.
Authorities said the fire spread rapidly after erupting in an area of the centre where shopkeepers had stored imported garments, clothing and plastic household goods, which helped fuel the flames.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has asked authorities to take “all measures” to protect lives and property, as well as help affected traders and the injured.
Karachi is the capital of southern Sindh province, where such incidents are common. In November 2023, a fire tore through a shopping centre in the city, k!lling 10 people and injuring 22 others.