Karachi fire: Gul Plaza mall blaze leaves 14 dead, dozens missing; building at risk of collapse

A massive fire broke out at a sprawling shopping mall in Karachi, killing at least 14 people and leaving more than 60 others missing, as Pakistani firefighters began searching the smouldering remains on Monday.

The blaze broke out late on Saturday at Gul Plaza, a large multi-storey complex with around 1,200 shops. The shopping area spans an area larger than a football field in Karachi's historic centre.

Meanwhile, rescue workers warned the public that the remaining structure has become highly unstable and weak, and could collapse at any moment, news agency Reuters reported.

Video footage of the incident showed fierce flames rising from the building as firefighters worked through the night to put out the blaze. On Monday, they began cooling the structure and clearing twisted metal and debris strewn across the street, along with fallen air-conditioning units and shop signboards.

“We've been left high and dry, reduced to zero; 20 years of hard work, all gone,” shopowner Yasmeen Bano told Reuters.

Police chief Javed Alam Odho confirmed that so far, as many as 14 people have been killed and around 60 others are still unaccounted for.

“The rescue efforts are underway, and we hope it can be completed as soon as possible, but I can't provide a timeframe,” he said, adding that around 18 others who were injured in the fire had been released from the hospital.

“As the rescue operations continue, the number of casualties may rise,” the police official added.

At the same time, anger was simmering when Karachi's Mayor Murtaza Wahab visited the site on Sunday night, nearly 23 hours after the fire, as people chanted anti-government slogans and protested the fire department's response time, local media reported.

“It appears to have been caused by a circuit breaker,” police chief Odho told reporters on Sunday.

He also added that the layout of the complex and the nature of the items sold there may have contributed to the spread of the fire. “The layout and construction of this market was such, and secondly, the nature of the items in it — such as carpets, blankets and other objects made of resins — so the fire is still simmering because of these.”

Firefighters said Gul Plaza's lack of ventilation caused thick smoke to fill the mall and slowed efforts to reach people trapped inside. Images of the mall's interior revealed the charred remains of stores and a bright orange glow as flames continued to rise throughout the building.

This massive fire at Gul Plaza could be Karachi's biggest fire since an industrial site went up in flames in 2012, killing more than 260 people. A court ruled in 2020 that the case involved arson.