The fire at Gul Plaza shopping mall on MA Jinnah Road in Karachi was really bad. It has caused the death of a lot of people. The number of people who died from the fire at Gul Plaza shopping mall has now gone up to 26. A lot of people over 80, are still missing after the fire at Gul Plaza shopping mall. The people in charge told us this information on Tuesday.
The blaze erupted late Saturday night and destroyed most parts of the multi-storey building that housed more than 1,200 shops, trapping residents and workers inside as thick smoke and flames spread rapidly through the complex.
Search and Rescue Continues Under Challenging Conditions
The people from Rescue 1122 and the fire brigade have been searching the wreckage for, than 40 hours now. They are using flashlights and big machines to make their way through the unstable debris. The Rescue 1122 teams are looking for people who’re still alive and the fire brigade teams are helping them. They are also trying to find the bodies of people who did not survive. The Rescue 1122 and fire brigade teams are working together to do this difficult job.
The people, in charge finished looking on the floor and now they are working on the second floor. This is a deal because the second floor could still fall down easily. Something scary happened when the fire started to get big on the upper level. The firefighters had to jump and put out the flames before they could keep looking for people.
Body parts recovered from the rubble are being collected and identified, and authorities warn that the death toll may rise as the search continues amid dangerous conditions.
City Leaders Respond
Karachi Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab visited the site late at night to oversee rescue efforts and directed all departments of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation to remain on alert until all missing persons are traced and rescue operations are complete.
Chief Fire Officer Humayun Ahmed said the main blaze has been extinguished and cooling work is ongoing, but debris and unstable sections of the building continue to pose threats for rescuers.
How the Fire Spread So Rapidly
The fire probably started on the ground floor. Then it spread to the upper floors. There were a lot of things in the mall that can catch fire easily like clothes and electronics and plastic things, which made the fire move really fast and get very bad. The mall had these things in the stores, which’s why the fire was so strong. The fire moved from the ground floor to the floors because of these things.
The thick smoke and the limited ventilation made it really hard for people to get out. The exits were. Blocked too. This made it very difficult for people to escape and for rescue teams to get to them. The smoke and the blocked exits trapped people inside which made the rescue efforts more complicated.
This isn’t the first time Karachi has seen a deadly fire. Past incidents like the 2012 Pakistan factory fires — which claimed hundreds of lives — highlight longstanding concerns about fire safety standards in commercial and industrial spaces.
Human Toll and Community Impact
Families of the missing and deceased have gathered at the scene in anguish, anxiously awaiting information on loved ones. Some victims are being identified through DNA testing, a process that underscores the tragedy’s scale and the difficulty of recovery.
Local traders whose shops were destroyed say they have lost years of investment and livelihoods, with economic losses running into billions of rupees. Authorities have promised compensation and support, but the full scope of financial impact on small business owners is still unfolding.
Fire Safety Concerns Rekindled
The Gul Plaza fire has started a talk about how safe buildings are from fire and if people are ready for emergencies in the business areas of Karachi. People who know about safety and city planners want to make sure the rules for building safety are followed closely. They also want people to be better prepared and have equipment to fight fires so something like the Gul Plaza fire does not happen again. The Gul Plaza fire is a concern and people are talking about the need for better fire safety regulations and emergency readiness, in Karachis commercial districts.
This conversation echoes past concerns about enforcement failures in urban spaces — an issue also highlighted in reporting on other structural risks in the city.
