The death toll from a massive fire at a shopping complex in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi has risen to around 50, after firefighters recovered up to 25 more bodies from the wreckage on Wednesday.
The blaze, described as the city’s worst in over a decade, broke out late on Saturday at the Gul Plaza shopping mall and rapidly engulfed the multi-storey building. The complex was known for housing about 1,200 family-run shops selling wedding attire, toys, household items and other goods.
Confirming the latest discovery, Deputy Commissioner Javed Nabi Khoso told journalists: “We have found 20 to 25 dead bodies, or you call them remains.” He said the bodies had been moved to a hospital for DNA testing to aid identification.
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Khoso added that due to the condition of the remains, it was difficult to give an exact figure for the casualties. As of Tuesday, the official death toll stood at 29.
At the scene, mourners gathered near the charred remains of the building, lighting candles and holding up photographs of loved ones believed to have been trapped in the fire.
Firefighters battled the inferno for several days before finally bringing it under control on Tuesday. By then, Gul Plaza had been completely gutted and reduced to rubble and ash.
According to a state-run rescue service, 84 people have been reported missing. Police said most of those unaccounted for are feared dead, raising concerns that the toll may continue to climb.
One of the affected shop owners, Rehmat Khan, described the scale of the tragedy after viewing the destruction.
“It is a doomsday scenario,” he said, adding that between 18 and 20 people, including six employees, had been inside his shop when the fire broke out. All of them remain missing.
