Gul Plaza death toll rises to 61 after 30 bodies recovered from single shop

Karachi (Web Desk): The tragedy at Karachi’s Gul Plaza deepened on Wednesday as the confirmed death toll rose to 61, following the recovery of 30 bodies from a single shop inside the multi-storey commercial building.

Addressing the media, South DIG Syed Asad Raza said the bodies were found in a shop on the mezzanine floor of the plaza. 
He said that the victims had shut themselves inside a crockery shop in a bid to protect themselves from the raging fire.

Suleman, who owns the crockery outlet, said that 14 bodies had been recovered from his shop alone. He shared that several of his relatives, along with staff members and customers, were present inside the shop when the fire broke out.

Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed, however, offered a slightly different account, stating that remains of 21 bodies from two separate shops had been brought to Civil Hospital. She cautioned that it was not yet clear whether these remains belonged to exactly 21 individuals or possibly more.

The police surgeon added that since morning, only charred remains had been shifted to the hospital.

Meanwhile, District South Deputy Commissioner Javed Nabi Khoso said demolition of the building would not be demolished until the fate of every missing person was known.

Speaking to reporters, he said 86 people were still unaccounted for after the incident and confirmed that the entire structure would be pulled down once the operation was fully concluded.

The DC further said that the last known whereabouts of 39 missing individuals had been linked to the shopping complex. He added that 17 bodies recovered from the site had yet to be identified, while the identities of 11 victims had been confirmed so far.

The fire, described as the largest in Karachi in more than ten years, erupted late Saturday at Gul Plaza, a vast commercial centre housing around 1,200 shops in a multi-storey building covering an area larger than a football ground. The blaze continued for over 24 hours in the city’s historic commercial district before firefighters managed to bring it under control.

Providing an update on rescue efforts, DC Khoso said there were still sections of the building that teams had not been able to reach. He noted that search and recovery work was being carried out both by hand and with the help of machinery, while debris from collapsed areas was being carefully removed.

Despite the fire being extinguished, the DC said smoke and heat were still present inside the damaged structure, and cooling operations were ongoing. Searches, he said, had so far been limited to areas that were safe and accessible.

“There is no urgency being imposed on the rescue work because human lives are at stake,” he said, adding that all technical precautions were being followed during the operation.

He also noted that authorities were working to identify the bodies as quickly as possible, while reviewing the missing persons list, as some names appeared more than once.

Separately, KMC Fire Officer Zafar Khan told the media that Gul Plaza lacked essential safety features, including emergency exits and fire extinguishers. He said three fire tenders were dispatched immediately after the fire was reported, but the scale of the blaze was severe and access to the site was hindered by narrow roads.

Khan added that disorder among shopkeepers also affected rescue efforts, as many demanded that firefighters prioritise their own shops. He said one portion of the building had been cleared, while two sections still required thorough searching. Rescue teams would continue efforts to locate people buried beneath the rubble, and debris from collapsed parts of the structure would also be examined.

DC Khoso also confirmed that the nearby Rimpa Plaza had been temporarily sealed. He said the building’s safety status would only be determined after a detailed report from the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA), adding that building plans and related documents had been sought from the authority.

According to an SBCA notice, several parts of Gul Plaza collapsed during the fire, and sections of the fallen structure struck the ramp area of Rimpa Plaza, damaging its structural columns. The authority said inspections showed the affected portion of Rimpa Plaza to be unsafe and hazardous, posing a serious risk to life and property.

The SBCA directed the plaza’s management to immediately stop using the damaged areas and ordered the removal of all unsafe structural components. It instructed that repair and reinforcement work be carried out under the supervision of a qualified structural engineer and in line with relevant building regulations.

The authority further stressed that no part of the affected building could be used or occupied until it was officially declared safe, warning that failure to comply would result in legal action under the Sindh Building Control Ordinance, 1979, without any further notice.