On Monday, rescue services and local authorities in Pakistan announced that the death toll from the tragic fire that broke out in a shopping center in the southern city of Karachi had risen to 21, while rescue teams continued to race against time to find dozens of missing people amid fears that the number of victims could increase.
Details of the disaster at Ghoul Plaza
The tragedy began last Saturday evening when a fire broke out in the busy Gol Plaza shopping center, one of the city's well-known shopping destinations. The three-story building houses approximately 1,200 stores. The fire caused panic and chaos, especially as it occurred when the center was crowded with shoppers.
Hassan Khan, the head of the ambulance service, told AFP, "Twenty-one bodies have been recovered so far, and the search continues meticulously and cautiously," confirming that firefighters had successfully contained and extinguished the blaze. Khan noted that among the victims was a 25-year-old firefighter who lost his life while attempting to rescue those trapped, and that approximately thirty injured people were transported to hospitals for treatment.
Concerns and challenges of searching for missing persons
Amid these dire circumstances, Police Inspector Syed Asad Raza revealed a disturbing statistic, indicating that approximately sixty people were still missing. Families of the victims and the missing gathered at the scene of the incident, filled with anxiety and hope for any information about the fate of their loved ones who were inside the center when the disaster struck.
The authorities faced sharp and severe criticism from traders and the families of the victims, who expressed their anger at what they described as the slow pace of the rescue and relief operations, considering that the response was not commensurate with the scale of the disaster.
Context of the crisis: dilapidated infrastructure
This incident has once again highlighted the public safety crisis in Karachi, Pakistan's economic capital with a population exceeding twenty million. Fires are a common and tragic occurrence in this coastal city, often attributed to poor infrastructure and a lack of stringent safety standards in commercial and residential buildings.
Urban planning and safety experts point out that many buildings in Karachi lack adequate emergency exits or automatic fire suppression systems, exacerbating the loss of life in such incidents. Furthermore, haphazard electrical wiring and weak government oversight of building code compliance by property owners significantly contribute to the recurrence of these tragedies.
The repercussions and significance of the incident
The impact of this fire extends beyond the tragic loss of life; it has also caused significant economic losses for merchants in a center housing hundreds of shops. This incident is expected to spark a new wave of public and human rights demands for a review of safety procedures in markets and shopping centers throughout Pakistan, and for holding those responsible accountable to ensure that such tragedies, which claim innocent lives, are not repeated.
