Imagine a bustling shopping mall, filled with families and shoppers, suddenly engulfed in flames. This wasn't a scene from a disaster movie, but the terrifying reality for those trapped in Karachi's Gul Plaza earlier this year. But here's where it gets even more heartbreaking: this tragedy could have been prevented. And this is the part most people miss: warnings about the building's safety had been ignored for years.
Muhammad Imran, a shop owner, initially dismissed the fire as a minor incident, expecting fellow vendors to quickly extinguish it. But within seconds, smoke billowed through the vents, plunging the mall into darkness. Phone flashlights became useless, and panic set in as people couldn't even see their own hands. Imran, already vulnerable due to diabetes and a history of heart surgery, struggled to escape. "It felt like the end of the world," he recalled. "You couldn't see the person standing right next to you."
The inferno raged for nearly two days, reducing Gul Plaza, a multi-story complex housing 1,200 family-run shops selling everything from children's clothes to household goods, to ashes. At least 67 people lost their lives, with 15 still missing and presumed dead, according to police official Asad Ali Raza. This devastating blaze, the worst Karachi had seen in over a decade, exposed a shocking pattern of negligence.
Imran's harrowing escape, along with accounts from over a dozen other survivors who spoke to Reuters, revealed a chilling reality: locked doors, inadequate ventilation, and overcrowded corridors turned a bad situation into a deadly trap. As survivors finally stumbled out, they watched in horror as Gul Plaza crumbled, rescue efforts hampered by delays and insufficient resources.
Here's the controversial part: Police investigations suggest the fire started at an artificial flower shop, possibly caused by children playing with matches. Even more alarming, 13 out of 16 exits were routinely locked after 10 p.m., a practice that tragically trapped countless victims.
Documents reviewed by Reuters paint a damning picture. Gul Plaza, located in the heart of Karachi's historic center and built in the early 1980s, had been flouting building regulations for over a decade. Authorities had repeatedly warned of the dire situation, with the last review two years ago highlighting critical safety violations. Yet, no meaningful action was taken. Gul Plaza's management remained silent, refusing to respond to requests for comment.
A long paper trail of court cases filed in 1992, 2015, and 2021 by the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) documented the plaza's lack of safety compliance and unauthorized construction. However, the outcomes of these cases, including whether fines were imposed or violations rectified, remain unclear. The SBCA also failed to respond to inquiries about enforcement actions.
A November 2023 survey by the fire department, covering over 40 commercial buildings in the area, revealed a disturbing trend: inadequate firefighting equipment, blocked escape routes, faulty alarms, poor emergency lighting, and a lack of fire safety training for occupants and staff. A follow-up audit in January 2024 specifically flagged Gul Plaza as non-compliant, with inspectors deeming key safety categories like access to firefighting equipment, alarm systems, and electrical wiring as "unsatisfactory."
Further inspections by Karachi’s Urban Search and Rescue teams in late 2023 and early 2024, also reviewed by Reuters, confirmed that Gul Plaza was among several markets and commercial buildings flagged for deficiencies in multiple fire safety categories.
"Young boys were crying. People were panicking," Imran recounted, describing the terror as they encountered locked exits. In the darkness, some smashed doors and locks, forming human chains to avoid getting separated. With no way down, they fled to the roof, where 70 people, including families and children, were trapped for nearly an hour. The smoke, funneled upwards by the building's design, was even more suffocating, making it impossible to see neighboring buildings.
Then, a glimmer of hope. A sudden gust of wind cleared the smoke, revealing the adjacent Rimpa Plaza. Young men bravely crossed first, finding a broken ladder and creating a makeshift bridge, ferrying people across one by one. "I was the last to leave," Imran said. "I had to make sure everyone was safe." An ambulance from the Edhi Foundation charity awaited them on the other side.
Many survivors criticized the fire brigade's response as delayed and inadequate. Imran and other shop owners claimed they escaped the building only to witness Gul Plaza transform into a molten inferno as the first firefighters arrived.
According to a provincial government spokesperson, Sukhdev Assardas Hemnani, the first emergency call came at 10:26 p.m. from a teenager. Two fire vehicles reached the site within 10 minutes, classifying the blaze as a Grade 3 fire, "the highest category for an urban area." A citywide emergency was declared by 10:45 p.m., mobilizing resources from across Karachi.
Shopkeepers alleged that the first fire engine quickly ran out of water and left to refill, but Hemnani denied these claims. He stated that firefighters used "water, foam, chemicals, and sand" to combat the blaze, which was fueled by over 50 gas cylinders and flammable materials like perfumes, generator fuel, and car batteries. Many shops were fully stocked for the upcoming holy month of Ramadan, Pakistan's peak shopping season, further intensifying the fire.
While Hemnani insisted the first fire truck wasn't delayed, he acknowledged that subsequent arrivals were slowed by heavy traffic on a busy Saturday night and a crowd of over 3,000 people gathered outside the mall. The fire department did not respond to requests for comment.
The tragedy left deep scars on the market's close-knit community. Many of the missing were shop employees and traders who had tried to help others escape or went back inside searching for family members. Abdul Ghaffar, a toy store employee who had worked in Gul Plaza for two decades, lost his cousin, who was still unaccounted for after assisting others. His cousin's heartfelt voicemail, apologizing to his family, went viral on social media. "He was helping people escape," Ghaffar said. "That's how he died." Three other relatives remain missing, their identification pending DNA testing.
"All of this keeps replaying in front of my eyes," Imran said. "People we saw daily are no longer among us. God was kind to us — our lives were saved — but I still cannot understand what kind of fire this was."
Now, the question remains: Could this tragedy have been prevented if authorities had acted on the repeated warnings? And what measures are being taken to ensure such a disaster never happens again? We invite you to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below.
Reporting by Ariba Shahid in Karachi; Editing by Saad Sayeed and Raju Gopalakrishnan
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Ariba Shahid is a journalist based in Karachi, Pakistan. She primarily covers economic and financial news from Pakistan, along with Karachi-centric stories. Ariba has previously worked at DealStreetAsia and Profit Magazine.
