Gul Plaza | Pakistan

The rescue operation at Gul Plaza continued for the ninth consecutive as search teams recovered more human remains from the debris of the collapsed building.

Police on Saturday registered a first information report (FIR) over the devastating Gul Plaza inferno, citing the incident as an “outcome of negligence and carelessness”. The deadly inferno, which erupted on the night of January 17 at the mall and took nearly two days to be fully extinguished, has left the ground-plus-three-storey building in ruins, with some sections collapsed. It has so far claimed 71 lives. South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Syed Asad Raza confirmed that the FIR had been registered on behalf of the state, through a police official, under relevant laws. According to the FIR, Nabi Bux Station House Officer (SHO) Inspector Nawaz Ali Zardari said the police received information about the fire in the plaza at around 10:30pm on January 17. The FIR added that the fire was “rapidly spreading and engulfed the entire plaza” while firefighters and other rescue personnel were engaged in efforts to extinguish the blaze. It further stated that the fire erupted in shop number 193, a flower and gift sho...

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Saturday urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to constitute a high-level inquiry commission to hold those accountable whose negligence led to the Gul Plaza inferno. 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 71 lives and left over 1,100 shops in ruins. Addressing a press conference in Karachi, MQM-P leader Farooq Sattar said the citizens of Karachi had “questions of a very serious nature regarding the responsibilities of the Sindh government in this incident”, as well as those of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and the mayor. He called for an “independent judicial inquiry” into the Gul Plaza tragedy to ensure the truth comes to light. Sattar questioned what the “fear and obstruction” was in setting up a judicial commission. “Incapability, mistake, apathy, shamelessness, impudence — these should be exposed,” Sattar demanded. Sattar further demanded tha...

Heart-wrenching details have emerged from an eyewitness who narrowly escaped the deadly Gul Plaza fire, as rescue teams continue operations at the site.

KARACHI: The death toll of Karachi’s Gul Plaza blaze crossed 70 on Friday as rescuers found more remains from the rubble of the gutted shopping centre. Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed issued an updated list of 71 deceased. Of the 16 identified so far, nine were identified through DNA tests, which have been performed for 49 samples. The deadly inferno, which erupted on the night of January 17 at the mall and took nearly two days to be fully extinguished, has left the ground-plus-three-storey building in ruins, with some sections collapsed. As more bodies were recovered from different parts of the building, officials cautioned that the final toll can only be determined once the identification of the remains is completed. Meanwhile, officials expressed the hope to complete their search efforts on Friday. South Deputy Commissioner (DC) Javed Nabi Khoso told reporters that the search operation was in the “final stages”. “The search in the wreckage will be completed today,” he said. Stating that a total of 77 missi...

Governor Sindh Kamran Tessori has demanded a judicial inquiry into the deadly Gul Plaza fire in Karachi that has claimed at least 63 lives so far.

A joint session of Parliament on Friday unanimously passed a resolution on the Gul Plaza tragedy with the consent of both the government and the opposition, while several key bills were also approved despite strong protests and objections raised by the President.

KARACHI: The death toll of the deadly fire at Karachi’s Gul Plaza reached 67 on Thursday as rescuers continued to comb through the wreckage of the gutted building. Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed issued a list of 67 individuals, only seven of which had been identified. Earlier in the day, she had issued a list confirming the deaths of 50 people. A separate statement issued by the Sindh health department spokesperson also said that the post-mortem examination of 67 bodies had been conducted. The updated death toll comes a day after officials found the bodies of 30 people from a single shop on the mezzanine floor. The plaza, parts of which have collapsed due to the blaze, was a ground-plus-three-storey building with 1,200 shops spread over 8,000 square yards. Rescue 1122 spokesperson Hassaanul Haseeb Khan told Dawn that urban search and rescue teams were conducting a search operation with the help of a thermal imaging camera (TIC). “Urban search and rescue teams are working at the incident site and using specia...

KARACHI: In a harrowing development, at least 30 bodies were recovered from a gutted shop as rescuers combed through the wreckage of Karachi’s Gul Plaza on Wednesday. Karachi South Deputy Inspector General Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that the remains of 30 humans had been recovered from a shop called “Dubai Crockery” located on the mezzanine floor. He said that earlier in the day, rescue workers had recovered three more bodies, which had taken the toll from 28 to 31. He added that with the discovery of the bodies from the gutted shop, the death toll was estimated to have risen to 61. However, he cautioned that a final conclusion about the death toll could only be reached after receiving the DNA reports. He said that the relatives of those missing as well as the shopkeepers had previously indicated the possibility of there being a large number of people at the shop. Raza said that as per the last contact with the victims, they had believed they would be safe and the fire would be controlled but had suffocated to ...

As Karachi reels from the devastating Gul Plaza fire that has claimed the lives of at least 20 people as of Wednesday, civil society has once again come together to help those affected by the inferno. The fire had erupted at the iconic mall, located on MA Jinnah Road, on Saturday night, but it was said to be doused after more than 24 hours on Sunday. Firefighting efforts had to resume on Monday as flames reignited from the smouldering debris. The plaza, parts of which collapsed due to the blaze, was a ground-plus-three-storey building with 1,200 shops spread over 8,000 square yards. BVS, Mama Parsi schools offer 100pc fee concession The Bai Virbaijee Soparivala (BVS) Parsi High School offered 100 per cent concession in school fees to students whose parents or guardians suffered financial losses in the Gul Plaza blaze. “This measure has been introduced to provide temporary relief to families facing hardship as a result of this unforeseen incident,” read a statement from BVS dated January 20. “The school stands...

Gul Plaza only announced its importance after it was gone. As I’m writing this, I realise that the lamp on my bedside table is from there. So is the wall clock ticking opposite me, the plant sitting just within my line of sight, the bedsheet folded at the foot of my bed, and the ceramic tray holding loose change on my desk. I hadn’t noticed how much of my living space traces back to that same address in Karachi’s historic centre — until it burned. Each object carries its own small origin story: a practical purchase the first time we moved houses, an impulsive buy after a long walk through crowded aisles, or something my mother spotted on her trips there, sent to me on WhatsApp, and I approved from afar. At the time, none of it felt consequential. These were low-stakes decisions made between bargaining and staircases, between “let’s check one more shop” and “we’ll just take this one.” Everything we ever bought from Gul Plaza (and there is a lot) will eventually break, fade, or quietly disappear into storage. O...

At least 31 people have lost their lives in the deadly fire at Gul Plaza on MA Jinnah Road in Karachi, while 86 individuals are still missing as search and rescue operations continue for the fifth consecutive day, officials confirmed on Wednesday.

KARACHI: A committee formed by the Sindh government to investigate the circumstances that led to the devastating fire at the Gul Plaza shopping mall initiated its probe on Tuesday as the death toll reached 28. The Sindh chief secretary had formed the body on Monday, comprising Karachi Commissioner Syed Hassan Naqvi and the Karachi additional inspector general, directing that a report be submitted within seven days. Sources told Dawn that the committee held its first meeting on Tuesday, led by the Karachi commissioner. They said the committee called officials from the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA), the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Fire Brigade, Rescue 1122 and the owner of the mall and sought details from them. Meanwhile, Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab said that based on the KMC’s audit of various buildings, the SBCA had started to “take action”. “A letter with a list of non-compliant buildings has been sent to the Association of Builders and Developers (Abad),” he said on X. The SBCA letter a...

The National Assembly on Tuesday echoed with calls for empowering local governments (LGs) as lawmakers stressed the need for reforms in the wake of the Gul Plaza fire. Besides members of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), PML-N’s Khawaja Asif also favoured strengthening LGs for better city administration. Speaking on the floor of the NA today, MQM-P leader Dr Farooq Sattar called for the “creation of more administrative units” for better governance and strengthening local government systems. “Such a huge burden can not be shouldered by a chief minister alone,” he said. “These powers should instead be handed over to the mayor, town chairman, UC (union council) chairman”. He recalled that MQM-P had also advocated for the inclusion of a clause aimed at strengthening local government bodies in a probable 28th Constitutional Amendment. “Creating an administrative unit is not the division of geography; it is an administrative division, a division of justice and resources,” Sattar maintained. He assailed...

KARACHI: The death toll from the Gul Plaza blaze rose to at least 23 on Monday, with Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab saying that 65 people remained missing. The fire had erupted on Saturday night. The plaza, parts of which collapsed due to the blaze, was a ground-plus-three-storey building with 1,200 shops spread over 8,000 square yards. While the fire at the mall located on M.A Jinnah Road was said to be doused after more than 24 hours on Sunday, firefighting efforts had to resume on Monday as flames reignited from the smouldering debris. In the evening, Karachi South Deputy Inspector General Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that 23 bodies had been recovered from the debris. He added that the body parts of some of the victims had been recovered. In a statement, Rescue 1122 Chief Operating Officer (COO) Dr Abid Jalal said that while “more than 20 bodies have been recovered, the final number of dead cannot be stated at the moment”. “Some bodies have been recovered in the form of body parts from various locations,” he said...

Rescue workers on Monday combed through the rubble and debris of Karachi’s Gul Plaza in the aftermath of a deadly fire over the weekend. The fire started late on Saturday at Gul Plaza, which houses 1,200 shops in a multi-storey complex. The blaze in Karachi’s historic centre raged for more than 24 hours before it was mostly extinguished. Videos showed flames ripping through the building as firefighters laboured 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. A firefighter works next to the smoldering remains of Karachi’s Gul Plaza shopping mall on January 19, following a massive fire that broke out. — Reuters Police officers, rescue workers and shopkeepers gather at Karachi’s Gul Plaza shopping mall on January 19 after a massive fire broke out. — Reuters Rescue workers search for victims on January 19, following a massive fire that broke out in Karac...

PPP Senator Sherry Rehman on Monday said that there was no need to politicise the fire which broke out in Karachi’s Gul Plaza shopping mall, saying that it was a “lesson for all of us”. She made the remarks in the Senate after Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Senator Khalida Ateeb called the House’s attention to the incident, lambasting the Sindh government for its negligence. Calling the incident “heartbreaking”, Rehman said that there could be no compensation for all of the lives lost in the incident. She asserted that the entire Sindh government was active and dealing with the situation. However, she conceded that the fire brigade took time to reach the site after the fire broke out as there was a large crowd gathered at the scene. She added that Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had announced Rs10m as compensation for the affected families. “Shutting down private enterprise is harmful since this is such a big plaza. But fire safety is necessary for a city like Karachi and one should ask the administration...

The devastating fire at Gul Plaza, a landmark shopping centre on Karachi’s MA Jinnah Road, is not merely an accident or an unfortunate lapse in safety compliance. It is a grim reminder that poor governance kills. As rescue operations continue and the death toll rises in the aftermath, what is already evident is that this tragedy was foreseeable, preventable, and rooted in institutional failure rather than fate. Gul Plaza was an old, densely packed commercial building with hundreds of shops spread across its basement and upper floors, with inadequate emergency exits and fire safety systems. Despite its prominence and heavy daily footfall, reports indicate that the building lacked critical emergency exits and fire-venting infrastructure — features that should have been enforced long ago by the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA). Ensuring compliance with these standards is not optional; it is the statutory responsibility of the authority charged with public safety. The question is not whether a short circui...

KARACHI: A petition was filed in the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday, seeking the initiation of “criminal, departmental and contempt proceedings” against officials found responsible for the Gul Plaza fire. The fire, which erupted late on Saturday night, raged for almost 24 hours before it was doused. The death toll from the inferno rose to over 20 today from six reported on Sunday as rescue workers continued a search operation for several persons reported missing following the incident. Meanwhile, a lawyer, Advocate Saleem Michael, and a resident of Karachi, Muhammad Haris, filed a plea in the SHC, stating that the “tragedy was not an unavoidable accident but a direct consequence of gross negligence, failure of inspection, nonenforcement of safety laws, and maladministration by the respondents who are legally bound to ensure building and fire safety”. The Sindh government, Sindh Building Control Authority, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, Karachi’s chief fire officer, the Sindh Emergency Rescue Service dire...

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Monday announced a compensation of Rs10 million each for the families of those who lost their lives in the deadly Gul Plaza fire in Karachi and pledged that the damaged building would be rebuilt after necessary assessments.