Gul Plaza | Pakistan

KARACHI: An additional district and sessions judge on Monday granted interim bail to five of the six accused in the deadly Gul Plaza blaze, including the building union president and an 11-year-old boy. The deadly inferno, which erupted on the night of January 17 at the mall and took nearly two days to be fully extinguished, had claimed at least 73 lives and left over 1,100 shops in ruins. In the charge sheet, six persons had been named as accused persons: 11-year-old Huzaifa; his father, Naimatullah who owned an artificial flower shop; and Gul Plaza Traders Association President Tanveer Pasta along with its members Ammar Ismail, Muhammad Ramzan, and Muhammad Ameen. Naimatullah, Pasta, Ismail and Ramazan were granted bail against a surety bond of Rs500,000 each, their lawyer Shaikh Jawaid Mir said. The child was granted interim bail against a surety worth Rs10,000. A written order issued by Judge Muhammad Aslam Shaikh read: “The contention required consideration and at this stage without touching the merits o...

KARACHI: A local court on Monday granted protective bail to the accused nominated in the Gul Plaza fire case and directed them to submit surety bonds before the trial court.

• Another prosecutor greenlights IO to file charge sheet in court without including judicial commission’s report • Four members of shopping plaza’s management committee and owner of artificial flower shop will also face trial KARACHI: An 11-year-old boy is set to be tried in a court of law for igniting a fire at the Gul Plaza Shopping Centre on Jan 17 that resulted in the deaths of 72 persons. This was stated in a charge sheet filed in court by the investigating officer of the Gul Plaza fire case through in charge district prosecutor Abdul Razzaq Gujjar on Saturday. Only on Friday, another prosecutor had returned the charge sheet to the IO, asking him to remove certain defects he pointed out and include the report of a judicial commission. However, prosecutor Gujjar gave the go-ahead to the IO to file the charge sheet as the judicial commission’s report can be filed at a later stage. According to the charge sheet, 72 people had lost their lives, eight sustained injuries and 1,153 shops were gutted in the deva...

KARACHI: The prosecution has once again returned the charge sheet submitted by the investigating officer in the Gul Plaza case, as he failed to include the judicial commission’s report and to remove several defects earlier pointed out by the prosecution. In his third attempt to submit the charge sheet, the IO had fixed the responsibility on four union officials — Tanveer Pasta, Amar Ismail, Muhammad Ramazan and Muhammad Ameen — as well as the owner of an artificial flower shop, Naimatullah and his teenage son, placing them as absconders under Section 512 of the Criminal Procedure Code in the report. He had charged them for committing offences under Sections 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 322 (punishment for qatl-bis-sabab), 337-H (punishment for hurt by rash or negligent act), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house, etc.), 427 (mischief with intent to destroy or make unsafe a decked vessel or one of twenty tons burden) of the Pakistan Pen...

The prosecution has returned the initial investigation report in the Gul Plaza fire case to Karachi Police, citing significant shortcomings in the probe and directing investigators to collect additional evidence before resubmitting the challan.

Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Friday said that the Sindh government would fulfil its promise of rebuilding Gul Plaza, a multi-storey shopping plaza which was reduced to ruins due to a deadly inferno that claimed the lives of more than 70 people in January. In January, CM Murad had told the Sindh Assembly that the provincial government would demolish and reconstruct Gul Plaza within two years, ensuring no increase in the number of shops. Addressing a ceremony for distributing compensation cheques among the affected shopkeepers in Karachi on Friday, CM Murad said, “The Sindh government will rebuild Gul Plaza as promised, and will make the same number of shops as before. All the losses will be recompensed and no one will benefit through unfair means.” He said that this was the first phase of distributing the cheques to the affected shopkeepers. CM Murad also expressed his gratitude to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI) and the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) for providing the tempora...

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has reaffirmed that the provincial government will reconstruct Gul Plaza in Karachi, which was gutted in a fire in January 2026, killing 67 people.

The Sindh government on Thursday constituted a high-level committee to “ensure the execution of the inquiry report” of the Gul Plaza inferno, which claimed the lives of more than 70 people in January. The deadly fire erupted on the night of Jan 17 and took nearly two days to be fully extinguished, leaving the ground-plus-three-storey building of Gul Plaza in ruins, with some of its sections collapsed. Subsequently, a one-member judicial commission was formed to probe the incident, and it handed over its report to the Sindh government on Tuesday. A statement issued by the Sindh Home Department said the decision to form a committee for the report’s implementation was taken during a meeting of the provincial cabinet’s sub-committee, where the report was reviewed. “This decision follows significant progress made after the investigation into the unfortunate fire incident at Gul Plaza Shopping Centre, Karachi,” the statement read. The commission, headed by Justice Agha Faisal of the Sindh High Court, identified the...

The judicial commission formed to investigate the deadly fire at Gul Plaza shopping mall has completed its probe and is set to submit its report to the Government of Sindh.

KARACHI: The Gul Plaza Judicial Commission has concluded its proceedings and announced that the inquiry report will be handed over to the provincial government on April 7. In early February, the single-member commission, headed by Justice Agha Faisal of the Sindh High Court, began its inquiry into the Jan 17 devastating fire in Gul Plaza Shopping Mall that claimed lives of 73 people. Commission’s Registrar Iqbal Hassan Khatti on Thursday sent a letter to the law secretary, informing him about the conclusion of the proceedings and submission of the inquiry report. According to the letter, the commission was constituted under Section 3 of the Sindh Tribunals of Inquiry Ordinance 1969 vide gazette notification, issued on Feb 10, to scrutinise the devastating inferno at Gul Plaza as per terms of reference stated in the notification while the period prescribed for completion of the inquiry was eight weeks. “It is hereby intimated that the commission has concluded the inquiry entrusted thereto and seeks to submit i...

A view of the charred Gul Plaza structure.—Fahim Siddiqi /White Star KARACHI: Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Wednesday ordered the authorities to demolish the fire-hit structure of Gul Plaza to pave the way for its reconstruction. The CM asked the director general of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) to submit a detailed plan for the reconstruction of the building, where a devastating fire killed dozens on Jan 17. He issued these directives while chairing a meeting to review the progress of compensation disbursement to victims’ families and the provision of financial assistance to traders affected by the tragic fire. According to a press statement, the CM told SBCA chief Muzammil Halepoto that he wanted work on the plaza to start at the earliest. CM asks SBCA chief to submit reconstruction plan; reviews compensation disbursement to victims’ heirs, traders He also instructed the Karachi commissioner to inform the judicial commission investigating the fire incident before beginning the demoliti...

KARACHI: Three people were arrested after a huge fire erupted in the gutted structure of Karachi’s Gul Plaza shopping centre on Sunday, which was brought under control by over half a dozen fire tenders after several hours, according to police and rescue services officials. The development comes after a huge fire erupted at the shopping centre in January this year, claiming the lives of over 70 people and destroying hundreds of shops. Rescue 1122 spokesperson Hassaanul Haseeb Khan told Dawn that the service received information about a fire in the basement at around 5:00pm. “Six fire tenders managed to control the blaze after hectic efforts up to 70 per cent, but thick smoke and heat is still emanating from the building,” he stated. Khan added that a “special response team” — set up after the previous Gul Plaza fire and equipped with the latest equipment — was deployed to the scene. He said initially, they were informed that the fire had erupted “spontaneously” in bushes inside Gul Plaza’s basement. “Since the...

KARACHI: Inhalational asphyxia/suffocation was the predominant cause of death in the tragic Gul Plaza fire that claimed at least 73 lives, according to Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed. The deadly inferno, which erupted on the night of January 17 at the mall, took nearly two days to be fully extinguished and left over 1,100 shops in ruins. Despite 10 days of hectic search efforts amid the rubble, at least eight people remained missing. Dr Syed submitted a reply to a questionnaire from the judicial commission probing the blaze, it emerged on Tuesday. Asked what the dominant cause of loss of life was, in her professional opinion, the police surgeon stated: “The predominant cause of loss of life was inhalational asphyxia/suffocation.” However, she added, polytrauma could not be ruled out in 66 others “due to fragmented remains”. Polytrauma is a medical condition involving multiple severe injuries. Detailing the findings, Dr Syed said, “Inhalational asphyxia was established as the primary medical cause of death in...

The president of the Gul Plaza Association, Tanveer Pasta, has submitted his response to the judicial commission investigating the Gul Plaza fire tragedy, attributing the high number of casualties to delays and inadequate arrangements in the rescue operation.

• Says lack of fire safety measures, disconnection of electricity and blocking of exits caused fatalities • Forensic investigation can determine exact origin of fire, commission told KARACHI: Chief Fire Officer Muhammad Humayun Khan has blamed the Gul Plaza administration for the loss of life due to lack of implementation of fire safety protocols, failure to make a prompt announcement about the fire, blocked emergency exits and disconnection of electricity without evacuating people trapped inside. He said this in response to a questionnaire from the single-judge commission, headed by Justice Agha Faisal of the Sindh High Court. In his reply / statement, Mr Khan submitted that information about Jan 17 Gul Plaza fire was received at the central fire station at 10:26pm, first fire tender was dispatched at 10:27pm and it was arrived at the site in around 10 minutes. He maintained that the one-minute response time was consistent with internationally recognised performance benchmarks while travel time was influence...

The Sindh government on Tuesday formally notified a single-member judicial commission to investigate the causes of the devastating fire at Gul Plaza.

KARACHI: The Sindh government on Wednesday formed a single-member judicial commission to probe the cause of the Gul Plaza blaze that claimed at least 73 lives. The notification appointing Justice Agha Faisal and listing the commission’s terms of reference came hours after Sindh High Court (SHC) Chief Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput nominated the judge for the task. It should be mentioned that the Sindh government had announced it would approach the SHC chief justice for a judicial inquiry into the fire, which took nearly two days to be fully extinguished and left over 1,100 shops in ruins. Earlier in the day, a letter from the SHC registrar to the Sindh Home Department’s secretary, available with Dawn, stated that the chief justice had nominated Justice Faisal as the single-member commission to “probe the causes of the fire incident of Gul Plaza shopping centre, Karachi for a period to be fixed and notified by the government of Sindh”. It stated that the decision was made keeping in view the provisions of Section ...

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday turned down Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori’s request to constitute a judicial commission to probe the Gul Plaza inferno, citing non-compliance with the relevant law and case law “in letter and spirit”. In his letter to SHC Chief Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput dated January 27, the Muttahida Qaumi Move­ment-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader requested the SHC CJ to constitute a judicial inquiry commission to “investigate the Gul Plaza fire incident and to dig out the root cause, negligence facts or violations of law that may have led to this unfortunate occurrence”. A letter was issued by the high court in response to the governor’s request to constitute a judicial inquiry regarding the incident, a copy of which is available with Dawn. The response, dated January 28, stated that the chief justice was “pleased to record minutes that the procedure for a formal, independent inquiry into matters of public concern, typically led by a judge or legal expert, is to be appointed by the government s...

Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon on Thursday announced that a judicial inquiry will be conducted into the Gul Plaza fire. “To further probe this and to promote departmental transparency, the sub-committee decided … a letter is being penned to the honourable Sindh High Court (SHC) chief justice,” Memon told a press conference in Karachi. He added that the SHC top judge will be requested to appoint a serving judge to “review everything and decide on it”. A cabinet sub-committee — chaired by Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and including ministers Memon, Nasir Hussain Shah, Saeed Ghani, and Ziaul Hassan Lanjar — reviewed a report submitted by a two-member team. “The meeting with the chief minister went on for four to five hours and important decisions were made in light of the commissioner and additional IG’s report,” Memon noted. The senior minister then listed the decisions taken by the sub-committee. He observed that the Civil Defence department conducted fire safety audits of Gul Plaza and other buildi...

KARACHI: Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori, in a letter to the Chief Justice of Sindh High Court Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput, has sought the constitution of a judicial inquiry commission in relation to the devastating Gul Plaza blaze in Karachi, it emerged on Thursday. The development comes amid growing calls from the opposition parties to form an inquiry commission in response to preliminary findings on the incident, which suggested that the fire was caused accidentally by a minor son of the owner of a flower shop. Jamaat-i-Islami also questioned the probe’s credibility and asked for an independent judicial commission. The deadly inferno, which erupted on the night of January 17 at the mall and took nearly two days to be fully extinguished, has claimed at least 73 lives and left over 1,100 shops in ruins. In his letter — dated January 27 and available with Dawn — the Muttahida Qaumi Move­ment-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader requested the SHC CJ to constitute a judicial inquiry commission to “investigate the Gul Plaza fir...