KARACHI – It took firefighters more than 33 hours to bring the Gul Plaza fire under control which claimed 14 lives and injured 30 people, 11 of them seriously, with the fate of dozens of trapped people unknown. The fire which started on Saturday night has damaged the basic structure of the building which caused a major portion to collapse. He said that the lack of ventilation in the mall, which housed more than 1,200 shops, caused the building to fill with smoke and slowed rescue efforts. Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab told media at the scene that 65 people were still missing. Reuters adds: The fire erupted on Saturday night, with rescue services receiving a call at 10:38 pm (1738 GMT) reporting that ground-floor shops at the multi-storey Gul Plaza shopping centre were ablaze.

Source: The Patriot January 19, 2026 22:32 UTC