At least 11 people died and a dozen were injured in a fire that erupted in a multi-storey shopping mall on Saturday morning near the Dalmia area on Rashid Minhas Road.
Officials said the deaths were caused by suffocation and burns, while some of those injured fell off the stairs during evacuation and others suffered burn injuries.
Meanwhile, Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab quoted the fire department as saying that the blaze claimed nine lives, and that the search process was underway.
Wahab also told Samaa TV that there was no fire exit inside the shopping mall.
Seven people were recovered in an unconscious condition due to suffocation, and they were said to be in critical condition. All the injured and unconscious people were shifted to the hospital. At least 30 people were said to have evacuated the building on a self-help basis, while many were still inside, as per some reports.
Jinnah Hospital officials claimed to have received 10 injured, of whom three are in critical condition.
The rescue director told the media that they received information about the fire around 6:30am, adding that the fire had been completely extinguished and a rescue operation was underway.
He further said the operation will take time as there was a lot of smoke inside the building.
Chief Fire Officer Ishtiaq Ahmed said the intense fire erupted at 6:30am. He said there were 45 people inside the mall that were rescued. He claimed that there was no fire fighting or alarm system in the building, adding that the fire that erupted on the second floor reached till the sixth.
Three of the deceased have been identified as Kareem Bakhsh, Muhammad Younas and Kashif, said Jinnah Hospital’s Dr Nosheen. She further said that Kashif was a finance manager with a call centre.
She said the deceased had burn injuries on their bodies.
One of the deceased shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital was identified as 32-year-old Salman. One body and an injured were taken to the civil hospital also. The injured was identified as 14-year-old Atif.
Officials said eight fire engines, two snorkels and a bowser were engaged in the fire extinguishing operation, which took at least four hours to complete. After dousing the flames, a cooling and rescue operation was underway.
Rescue officials said the fire erupted on the second floor of the mall at around 6:30am and soon engulfed the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors, where several shops and offices were located. The reason behind the fire was yet to be determined.
They said many windowpanes were shattered, due to which explosions could be heard from inside the building, while fire extinguishing efforts were hampered by the accumulation of thick clouds of smoke.
Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Maqbool Baqar has taken notice of the fire incident and ordered the commissioner to rescue the people still trapped inside the mall.
He also directed to ensure minimum losses while trying to douse the flames, adding that it was the government’s responsibility to protect the lives and property of the people.
Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori also took notice of the incident and expressed grief over the loss of lives. He has sought a report into the incident from the Karachi commissioner.
