Islamabad, Jan 20, (dpa/GNA) – A raging fire at a multi-storey shopping mall in Karachi has killed at least 14 people, with dozens more missing, a tragedy that has underscored chronic safety lapses and widespread violations of building codes in Pakistan.
The blaze erupted late Saturday in the country’s largest city and took more than 24 hours to bring under control, officials said on Monday.
“At least 14 people have died,” Sadia Javed, a spokeswoman for the provincial government of Sindh told dpa.
Another 38 people were wounded in the incident and there was a fear that the death toll could rise.
Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori, visited the site of the incident and told media that “more than 70 people” were still missing.
Javed said that mobile phone location tracking showed that at least 26 people reported missing by their families were traced to the shopping mall. At least 60 families had approached authorities to report missing family members.
According to officials, the shopping mall was approved for 400 shops but was crammed with around 1,200, many stocked with clothes, cosmetics, electrical appliances and chemicals.
“Only two out of the seven exit points of the mall were operational,” she said.
Hassanul Haseeb Khan, spokesman for the provincial rescue services, said teams had managed to enter the building and launched a search operation for those still unaccounted for.
Fires in residential and commercial buildings are frequent in Pakistan, where many high-rises operate without certified fire and safety systems. Fire departments are often understaffed and poorly equipped, limiting their ability to respond to large-scale emergencies.
GNA