Tragic Blaze at Karachi Shopping Center Claims Nearly 40 Lives, Many Still Unaccounted For

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Pakistani rescuers have scoured the charred remains of a Karachi mall for dozens missing after a huge blaze destroyed the complex, while relatives gave DNA samples to aid the search.

Four days after the fire ripped through the three-storey Gul Plaza, police in the coastal city have confirmed at least 29 people were killed. But the toll is expected to rise considerably.

“With the help of the police, we have verified 39 missing persons as yet,” Karachi south’s deputy commissioner, Javed Nabi Khoso, told AFP.

Authorities are working to verify the status of nearly 50 individuals still listed as missing.

Families have criticised authorities for the slow recovery operation at the mall, where AFP journalists saw at least five human remains recovered on Wednesday.

At the Civil Hospital Karachi, provincial health official Summaiya Syed said DNA samples from 51 families had been taken so far.

“We will release the remains to the families once DNA testing is complete,” a spokesperson announced to reporters outside the hospital morgue.

“It’s crucial for the families to receive some closure, some semblance of peace,” a 28-year-old family member expressed to AFP. “Even if it’s just seeing them one last time, in whatever condition, it allows us to say our final goodbye.”

Muhammad Saleem, 50, said his family had decided not to take the remains home if his three missing relatives are identified.

“They are bringing only remains wrapped inside clothes,” he told AFP.

“Our family members still believe that they are alive. They will go mad, if they see these remains. We will not show them to anyone and will bury them,” he said at the hospital.

Faraz Ali, whose father and 26-year-old brother were inside the mall, said he wants “the bodies to be recovered and handed over to their rightful families”.

Meanwhile, firefighters are battling a blaze that erupted at a shopping mall in Karachi, a major port city in southern Pakistan, on Sunday. Source: Getty / Xinhua News Agency

A photo showing a shopping mall on fire.

Firefighters try to extinguish a fire breaking out at a shopping mall in southern Pakistani port city of Karachi on Sunday. Source: Getty / Xinhua News Agency

Out of the 29 victims transferred from the hospital to the Edhi Foundation morgue for identification, only seven have been DNA-matched and handed over to the families.

Fires are common in Karachi’s markets and factories, which are known for their poor infrastructure, but a blaze on such a scale is rare.

A government committee has launched an investigation, but the cause of the inferno was not immediately clear.

The mall housed at least 1,200 shops and was famous for wedding stores and home decor.