KARACHI: A shopping mall building in southern Pakistan, where a blaze killed 11 people last week, had no fire safety equipment and an emergency exit, the Fire Department said on Monday.
The fire erupted at the multi-story RJ Mall, a commercial high-rise that also houses call centers and software firms, early Saturday in the port city of Karachi, known for its fragile firefighting system and poor safety controls.
In its report released on Monday, the city’s Fire Department cited serious violations of fire safety rules by the mall management.
“No any kind of public safety system was available in RJ mall including fire safety fighting equipment and emergency exit,” the report read.
It said the fire brigade did not receive information about the blaze timely and when the firefighters arrived at the scene, 3rd and 4th floors of the building were already “burning severely.”
“An intense smoke was gathered in complete mall due to which fire brigade’s staff faced difficulty in execution of firefighting operations,” the report read.
The Fire Department said its firefighting teams safely evacuated around 45 people, who had been trapped inside their offices, by smashing through the doors.
The report came a day after the Karachi police registered a case against K-Electric, the main power supply company in the city, and the Fire Department for their “criminal negligence” toward ensuring safety protocols at the mall.
The police said substandard materials were used to construct the mall, with builders getting approvals from both K-Electric and the Fire Department despite glaring safety violations.
Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab criticized the police for “wrongly implicating” the Fire Department of the city’s metropolitan corporation, which is headed by him.
“Unfortunately, we do the work, and we are the ones who face criticism,” Wahab told reporters on Monday, adding the responsibility to ensure safety protocols lied with the Cantonment Board, one of several independent civic bodies, under whose jurisdiction the mall is situated.
“The map of this building was not approved by the [Sindh] Building Control Authority or KMC [Karachi Metropolitan Corporation], and it was not regularized by them. Its map was passed by the Cantonment Board.”
Arab News tried to reach the Cantonment Board for a comment on the matter, but did not get a response to its email or calls.
The latest incident sheds light on violations of safety rules and complex governance system of Karachi, a sprawling megapolis of nearly 15 million people, where such incidents are not uncommon.
Earlier this year in April, a fire tore through a garment factory killing four firefighters. The flames ripped through the building, eventually causing it to collapse. In August 2021, at least 10 people were killed in a fire at a chemical factory in the same city.
In the deadliest such incident, 260 people were killed after being trapped inside a garment factory when a fire broke out in 2012.
