Firefighters were clearing the charred ruins of a Karachi mall on Tuesday as they tried to locate 63 people still missing after a fire that burned for nearly two days and killed 21 people.
Police have said most of the missing are feared dead, while rescue workers continued to search the debris for bodies. The fire, the city’s largest in over a decade, broke out late on Saturday at the sprawling Gul Plaza shopping complex, known for its 1,200 family-owned stores selling wedding clothes, toys, crockery, and other goods.
Flames spread quickly through the complex, creating an inferno that raged throughout the night and late into Sunday. Firefighters eventually brought the blaze under control, though small pockets of fire continued to flare up across the ruins.
Kosar Bano, a woman near the site, said six members of her family had gone to the mall to shop for a wedding. “The only hope we have is how many hands we will find, how many fingers we will find, and how many legs we will find. That’s it,” she said. Her relatives had last communicated that they would be home within 15 minutes.
Much of the mall, larger than a football field, was reduced to ash and debris scattered across the street as rescue teams worked to find the missing. Rizwan Ahmed of Rescue 1122 said on Tuesday that 21 people had been confirmed dead while 63 remained unaccounted for, nearly three days after the fire began. Relief workers recovered human remains, which were sent for DNA testing to confirm identities. Senior police official Syed Asad Raza said that 15 DNA samples had been collected by Monday night.
The disaster sparked anger at the scene, with people criticizing what they said was a delayed rescue response. The city’s mayor was jeered when he arrived nearly 24 hours after the fire started. Police reported that all but three of the mall’s 16 exits were locked at the time the fire broke out around closing time.
The government has promised an investigation into the cause of the fire and the response to the disaster. Gul Plaza’s management did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The blaze is Karachi’s deadliest mall fire in recent memory and the largest since a 2012 industrial fire that killed more than 260 people. A court later ruled that arson was involved in the 2012 tragedy.
Rescue teams remain at the site, combing through the rubble in hopes of finding survivors and identifying victims. Authorities continue to warn that the death toll could rise as investigations and DNA testing proceed.
