In a fire on Saturday, ten people died and 22 were hurt at RJ Mall on Rashid Minhas Road in Karachi, the mayor of Karachi said.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Karachi Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab said, “I can so far confirm 10 casualties and 22 persons have been injured”.
He said the fire was out and the process of cooling down was already underway.
One body has been taken to Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), and eight have been taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC). Police surgeon Summaiya Syed told Dawn.com earlier that nine bodies had been brought to hospitals. He said that another person was taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.
She also said that an 18-year-old was being brought to CHK at the moment.
District East Deputy Commissioner (DC) Altaf Shaikh, who was in charge of the rescue operation, said that 30 more people, including those who were hurt, were saved.
The DC also said that the building was cleared up to the fourth floor and that work was being done to clear the fifth floor. In his speech, he said that the exact cause of the fire would be found after the relief operation was over.
Sharah e Faisal Station House Officer (SHO), Raja Tariq Mehmood, told Dawn.com that the building was a business tower with call centers, software companies, and shopping malls.
A spokesperson for Fire and Rescue said that they were told about the event at 6:30 am and that eight fire trucks, two snorkels, and two bowsers were sent right away.
Sindh Inspector General (IG) Riffat Mukhtar told the top superintendent of police in District East to do everything possible to free the people who were trapped in the building. He also told them to clear the road so that the fire departments could get there easily.
Caretaker Chief Minister of Sindh, Justice (rtd) Maqbool Baqar, heard about what happened and ordered that the injured get medical help right away.
He requested the city commissioner safely release the trapped people because he was upset about the deaths of “six people.” The chief minister said that “the government was responsible for people’s lives and belongings.”
Wahab also expressed his regrets about what happened. In a statement, the mayor said that the fire department had found and saved dozens of people. He also said that the building did not have an escape exit.
He said that there would be a “complete investigation” into what happened.
Gov. Kamran Tessori of Sindh said he has asked the city commissioner to write a report on what happened.
Planners and engineers for the city of Karachi said earlier this week that they were sure that about 90% of all buildings in the city did not have fire protection and suppression systems. This included homes, businesses, and factories.
The lives of millions of people in the city were in danger because of “criminal negligence” on the part of government agencies like the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA).
