The tragedy at Karachi’s Gul Plaza worsened as rescue workers recovered five more bodies from the cooling ruins, bringing the confirmed death toll to 28. The fire, which broke out on Saturday night, was only fully suppressed after 36 hours of intense effort. According to Dr. Summaiya Syed, the city’s police surgeon, many of the remains are unrecognizable, necessitating DNA profiling for identification. Officials have collected 48 DNA samples from grieving relatives to match against the 20 bodies that remain unidentified.
Gul Plaza was not an accident. It was a failure at every level.
Building management ignored basic fire safety. No functional systems, poor access, unsafe alterations.
Authorities failed to monitor, audit, or enforce compliance.
Emergency response arrived too late, under prepared… pic.twitter.com/jtOZjLmZcc— M.Zahaib Nabeel (@zahaibnabeel) January 18, 2026
While the fire is out, the search for survivors has turned into a grim recovery mission. Police reports indicate that of the 80 people still reported missing, geo-fencing tracked the last known locations of 38 individuals directly to the plaza at the time of the inferno. The disaster has exposed staggering safety failures: survivors reported that 24 of the building’s 26 gates were locked after 10:00 PM, turning the maze-like corridors into a “death trap.” Furthermore, the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) revealed that while the mall was approved for 1,017 shops, hundreds of illegal units had been added over the years, blocking ventilation and emergency exits.
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In response to the “national tragedy,” Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has announced Rs10 million (approx. $35,000) in compensation for each victim’s family. A high-level inquiry committee, led by the Karachi Commissioner, has been given 14 days to fix responsibility for the lack of fire hydrants and the illegal structural changes. The provincial government has also vowed to fast-track the Sindh Community Safety Act 2026 to mandate fire audits for all commercial high-rises in the city, which currently houses only 35 fire stations for a population of 25 million.
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