ISLAMABAD: A week after China donated 500,000 doses of a COVID-19 jab to Islamabad, its People’s Liberation Army (PLA) delivered another vaccine set to Pakistan, the military said on Monday.
“People’s Liberation Army, People’s Republic of China has donated COVID-19 vaccine for Pakistan Armed Forces,” a statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistan military’s media wing, said.
It added that it was the first time China had provided coronavirus vaccines to a foreign military.
“Keeping with the Pakistan Armed Forces’ traditional spirit of the nation comes first, always and every time, it has been decided to contribute complete vaccine donation by PLA to Pakistan military,” the statement said, before extending their “deepest gratitude” to the PLA for this “magnanimous donation during testing times.”
Pakistan’s official death toll from coronavirus infections crossed the 12,000 mark on Monday after 59 new fatalities were recorded in the past 24 hours, data from the government’s COVID-19 portal showed.
It also registered 1,037 new infections in a single day, taking the national tally to 555,511 cases.
Pakistan launched a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive with the Sinopharm vaccine on Feb. 2, after receiving half a million jabs as a “gift” from China.
It aims to inoculate 70 million, out of 100 million eligible people, by the year-end.
In order to safeguard its population of 220 million, Pakistan has also approved the use of three coronavirus vaccines, namely China’s Sinopharm, Oxford University-AstraZeneca and Russia’s Sputnik-V, while 582 emergency vaccination centers have been established for the initiative.
Pakistan military first to receive COVID-19 vaccines from Chinese army
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Pakistan military first to receive COVID-19 vaccines from Chinese army
- Will donate all jabs for use in nationwide vaccination drive which was launched last week, ISPR says
- Earlier, Beijing had also donated half a million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine to Islamabad as a “gift”
Death toll in Pakistan shopping plaza fire rises to 67, officials say
- Rescue teams still searching for damaged Gul Plaza in Karachi where blaze erupted on Saturday, says police surgeon
- Karachi has a long history of deadly fires, often linked to poor safety standards, weak regulatory enforcement
KARACHI: The death toll from a devastating fire at a shopping plaza in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi jumped to 67 on Thursday after police and a hospital official confirmed that the remains of dozens more people had been found.
Police surgeon Dr. Summaiya Syed said rescue teams were still searching the severely damaged Gul Plaza in the Karachi, where the blaze erupted on Saturday.
Most remains were discovered in fragments, making identification extremely difficult, but the deaths of 67 people have been confirmed, she said. Asad Raza, a senior police official in Karachi, also confirmed the death toll. Authorities previously had confirmed 34 deaths.
Family members of the missing have stayed near the destroyed plaza and hospital, even after providing their DNA for testing. Some have tried to enter the building forcibly, criticizing the rescue efforts as too slow.
“They are not conducting the search properly,” said Khair-un-Nisa, pointing toward the rescuers. She stood outside the building in tears, explaining that a relative who had left to go shopping has been missing since the blaze.
Another woman, Saadia Saeed, said her brother has been trapped inside the building since Saturday night, and she does not know what has happened to him.
“I am ready to go inside the plaza to look for him, but police are not allowing me,” she said.
There was no immediate comment from authorities about accusations they have been too slow.
Many relatives of the missing claim more lives could have been saved if the government had acted more swiftly. Authorities have deployed police around the plaza to prevent relatives from entering the unstable structure, while rescuers continue their careful search.
Investigators say the blaze erupted at a time when most shop owners were either closing for the day or had already left. Since then, the Sindh provincial government has said around 70 people were missing after the flames spread rapidly, fueled by goods such as cosmetics, clothing, and plastic items.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, though police have indicated that a short circuit may have triggered the blaze.
Karachi has a long history of deadly fires, often linked to poor safety standards, weak regulatory enforcement, and illegal construction.
In November 2023, a shopping mall fire killed 10 people and injured 22. One of Pakistan’s deadliest industrial disasters occurred in 2012, when a garment factory fire killed at least 260 people.
