The death toll from a fire that ripped through a shopping mall in Pakistan has risen to at least 50, after firefighters pulled more bodies from the charred wreckage.
– We found 20 to 25 bodies, or as we can call them, remains – said Deputy Commissioner Javed Nabi Khoso.
The Gul Plaza mall in Karachi, the country’s largest city, was engulfed in fire late on Saturday, December 18. The fire burned for more than 24 hours before it was extinguished.
However, firefighters had to battle the flames again until Tuesday, December 20, after the fire reignited from the pile of ashes and smoldering remains of the building.
The search for missing people who were trapped in a multi-story shopping center was hampered by thick smoke that filled the building while the fire was raging, fire officials said.
More than 50 families have provided DNA samples to help identify the victims, provincial health official Summaiya Syed told reporters outside the Civil Hospital mortuary in Karachi.
– We will hand over the remains to the families after the DNA samples are matched – she added.
According to the state rescue service, a total of 84 people are missing.
Authorities say most of the missing people are feared dead, meaning the death toll could rise further.
Meanwhile, relatives of the missing have criticized the search and rescue operation as slow.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
The authorities have launched an investigation into the incident, and Pakistani media reports that high-ranking officials of the investigative commission visited the accident site yesterday.
The mall fire is Karachi’s deadliest in more than a decade.
In 2012, more than 260 people died in a fire at a clothing factory in this port city, reports DW.
(Vijesti.ba / FENA)
