A massive fire that engulfed a shopping mall in Pakistan's largest city has claimed the lives of 14 people, including a firefighter, and rescuers are rushing to find dozens missing, writes UNN with reference to the BBC.
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It took firefighters more than 24 hours to extinguish the fire at Gul Plaza shopping mall, which started on Saturday evening. The building housed 1,200 shops and covered an area of 8,000 square meters.
Parts of the building collapsed, and officials said debris and lack of ventilation were hindering rescue efforts.
"Almost the entire building was already engulfed in flames," local emergency services reported when rescuers arrived at the scene on Saturday evening.
58 people are missing, their families reported, gathered near the remains of the center, eagerly awaiting news of their loved ones. The city administration has set up a desk to register the names and details of the missing.
On Sunday morning, smoke was still rising from the remains of the Gul Plaza building. A significant part of the building has already collapsed, and there are fears that it may collapse further.
Hassan Khan, a spokesman for rescue service 1122 in Karachi, told BBC Urdu that the fire spread rapidly due to the presence of flammable materials such as foam, fabric, and perfumes in the building.
By Sunday evening, various parts of Gul Plaza had been charred and turned into ruins. Rescuers told Reuters that the entire building could collapse.
Cranes were deployed to shift the remains of the partially destroyed building in hopes of extracting more bodies. However, rescuers are still waiting for the structure to cool down enough to conduct a thorough search.
According to a police spokesman for the BBC, at least 26 of those missing were last seen inside the building, according to the location of their phones.