ISLAMABAD: Firefighters in Karachi began searching on Monday for more than 60 missing people after a massive fire destroyed a shopping mall in Pakistan’s commercial hub and killed at least 14.

The blaze broke out late Saturday at Gul Plaza in Karachi’s Saddar business area and spread rapidly through multiple floors, according to emergency officials. Firefighters battled for over 24 hours to bring the fire under control, which was still blazing late into Sunday night. Firefighters said the lack of ventilation in the building, which houses more than 1,200 shops, caused thick smoke to fill the mall and slowed efforts to reach people trapped inside.

Deadly fires in commercial buildings are a recurring problem in Karachi, a city of more than 20 million people, where overcrowding, outdated infrastructure and weak enforcement of fire safety regulations have repeatedly resulted in mass casualties and economic losses.

“Death toll from the blaze has risen to 14,” senior police officer Syed Asad Raza told Arab News, adding that the toll was expected to rise as the search for bodies continued.

“The fire has been extinguished but light smoke is still rising, and the recovery of bodies has now begun,” Muhamamd Amin, an official from the Edhi charity present on the spot, said.

Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Sunday evening directed the Karachi commissioner to launch an immediate inquiry and examine whether safety failures or regulatory lapses contributed to the scale of the disaster.

“Fire safety arrangements in the building must be checked, and strict action should be taken against those responsible if negligence or carelessness is proven,” Shah said in a statement.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. 

Officials have said over 1,200 shops were gutted in the fire, wiping out inventories and investments built over decades. One firefighter was among the 14 who died.

Speaking to reporters late on Sunday, Shah said preliminary information indicated that 58 to 60 people were initially reported missing after the blaze, though rescue and cooling operations were still underway and authorities were continuing to verify the figures. He added that the fire occurred during the peak wedding shopping season, compounding losses for traders and shoppers in the area.

He said the intensity of the blaze and limited access points inside the building made it difficult for firefighters to enter quickly, contributing to the scale of damage.

$10 MILLION LOSSES

The fire tragedy has also triggered urgent concern within Karachi’s business community.

The Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) announced the formation of a dedicated committee to coordinate relief efforts, document losses and press the government for compensation and rehabilitation of affected traders.

KCCI said preliminary assessments showed that over 1,000 small and medium-sized businesses had been completely destroyed, leaving many families without income. The chamber appealed to both provincial and federal authorities to announce a special compensation package, citing precedents such as the 2009 Bolton Market arson, after which funds were approved to rebuild fire-hit markets and compensate nearly 2,000 affectees.

Ateeq Mir, a traders’ representative, estimated that losses to businesses from the fire would be over $10 million. 

“There is no compensation for life but we will try our best that the small businessmen that have encountered losses here, we will try in a transparent manner … to compensate their losses,” Chief Minister Shah told reporters on Sunday.

Separately, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a telephone conversation with Shah on Sunday evening, the premier’s office said, to offer full federal support to provincial authorities.

Sharif said a “coordinated and effective system is essential” to control fires quickly in densely populated urban areas and stressed the need for stronger preventive mechanisms to avert similar tragedies in the future. He said the federal government was prepared to work with provincial authorities to help establish an integrated fire-response and safety framework, adding that Islamabad stood with the affected families and the Sindh government during the crisis.

Battling large fires in Karachi’s dense commercial districts is notoriously difficult, reflecting a mix of urban congestion, weak regulation, and chronic enforcement failures. Many markets and plazas are built with narrow access points, encroachments and illegal extensions that block fire tenders and delay rescue operations, while buildings often lack functional fire exits, sprinklers or alarm systems. 

Although safety regulations exist on paper, inspections are sporadic, and penalties rarely enforced, allowing hazardous electrical wiring, overloaded circuits and flammable materials to go unchecked. In such tightly packed areas, fires can spread rapidly from shop to shop and floor to floor, leaving firefighters little room to maneuver and sharply increasing the risk to both occupants and emergency crews.