Fire at Karachi’s Gul Plaza Kills 6, Injures Dozens

Karachi: Firefighters in the biggest city in Pakistan, Karachi, struggled to put out a large fire on Sunday that has killed six people and caused damage to parts of a shopping mall in the historical downtown area of Karachi, Gul Plaza. 

Videos showed flames licking through the building of Gul Plaza as firefighters struggled through the night to prevent the spread of the blaze through the dense business district. Hundreds of people stood by, including outraged owners of stores, which had been reduced to ash.

Fire broke out on Saturday night, and rescue services were alerted at 10:38 p.m. (1738 GMT) when reports came in that shops on the ground floor of Gul Plaza were on fire.

“When we reached the scene, the fire that started in the ground floor spread to the upper floors, and the entire building was almost in flames,” said Hassanul Haseeb Khan, spokesperson for rescue services group 1122, according to Reuters.

“Six bodies have been received at the Civil Hospital here, and 11 injured persons have also been received who were rescued from the affected areas. The police are invoking the mass disaster protocol here,” said Dr. Summaiya Syed, the police surgeon.

“Images of the interior of the mall show the charred remnants of the stores there and an orange glow emanating through the building as a result of the ongoing fire.”

According to the local media, some parts of the structure were already collapsing, and the whole structure could collapse, as feared by the rescue team.

Firefighting teams have so far managed to control 77 per cent of the fire at Gul Plaza, but the authorities said they are not able to give the timeline regarding the extinguishing of the fire, said Sindh Rescue 1122 Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Abid Jalal.

Addressing media persons, Rescue 1122 spokesperson, Dr Jalal, said that they received their first call regarding the emergency situation at Gul Plaza at 10:38 pm, and subsequently, Rescue 1122 vehicles and Karachi Metropolitan Corporation fire units were summoned.

A total of 22 fire units and four KMC snorkels were used in the rescue operation.

He mentioned that the fire-fighting operations at Gul Plaza were greatly hampered by the large number of chemicals that were being stored in shops inside the commercial complex.

Since the fire is extremely intense, the backside of this structure has collapsed, thereby rendering the structure extremely dangerous.

Dr. Jalal made it clear that fire department operations were still taking place and that cooling operations would only begin after it was completely brought under control, which could potentially take two to three days.

According to Dawn Newspaper, The Sindh government has established a helpline to report anyone missing due to the fire or to direct their queries, which can be contacted at 0313-5048048, 021-99206372 and 021-99205625.

A separate statement by the South Zone police also listed the following helpline contact numbers: 021-99205670, 021-99201196 and 021-99205691.

Dr. Jalal further added that it was unfortunate that a Rescue 1122 fireman lost his life during an earlier fire operation at Gul Plaza.

On the other hand, a number of people are still missing, and their families are very distressed.

Relatives of the missing people of Gul Plaza incident have been searching for them in hospitals, including Burn Center of Civil Hospital Karachi, and many people fear that people might still be trapped inside.

They said they had communication with their loved ones at Gul Plaza until late night, and then their phones went silent.

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According to the authorities, so far, it has resulted in the deaths of six persons, one a firefighter, while over 30 persons have been confirmed to have been injured.

Some areas within the Gul Plaza have also collapsed, and the Sindh Rangers, the Pakistan Navy, and other concerned agencies are on the scene to launch the rescue operation.