FIRE IN GUL PLAZA, KARACHI: SIX DEAD AND OVER 30 MISSING, ‘BROTHER ALSO CALLED HIS MOTHER TO ASK SOMEONE TO SAVE ME FROM THE FIRE / THE BROTHER ALSO CALLED HIS MOTHER ASKING FOR SOMEONE TO SAVE HIM FROM THE FIRE. / ‘MY SHOPS WERE BURNING BEFORE MY EYES.’

 January 18, 2026,

FIRE IN GUL PLAZA, KARACHI: SIX DEAD AND OVER 30 MISSING, ‘BROTHER ALSO CALLED HIS MOTHER TO ASK SOMEONE TO SAVE ME FROM THE FIRE’

‘The work of rescue is done only in the initial hours. They kept waiting for six hours. Initially, the fire was limited to only two entrances, they could have entered initially but they were late.’

This is according to a shopkeeper named Zain, who was questioning the performance of rescue agencies after the fire in Gul Plaza, Karachi.

It should be noted that the fire that broke out in Gul Plaza, located in the Saddar area of ​​Karachi on Saturday night, has so far confirmed the death of six people, including a firefighter of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), and the injury of more than 20 people.

Four of the six dead have been identified, while the District Office South help desk has received complaints about 34 missing people.

On the other hand, shopkeepers have also expressed fear that people may be trapped inside.

Hassan Al-Haseeb, spokesperson for Rescue 1122 in Sindh, told News Channel Urdu that the fire in the 8,000-square-yard building in Saddar is “extremely intense and it may take one to two days to extinguish it.”

The spokesperson for Rescue 1122 further said that there are 1,200 shops in Gul Plaza and they contain flammable materials such as plastic foam, cloth, carpets and perfumes.

According to Hassan Al-Haseeb, the building is very old and there is a risk of it collapsing due to the fire, which is why the rescue operation is being carried out with extreme caution.

THE BROTHER ALSO CALLED HIS MOTHER ASKING FOR SOMEONE TO SAVE HIM FROM THE FIRE.

Speaking to News Channel journalist Zeeshan Nawab, Haroon and his brother Harry said, “There were three of their brothers inside the building, two of whom came out, but the third brother has been missing since yesterday and no news has been found about him yet.”

According to Haroon, “From inside the plaza, his brother called his parents from his shop to save me. He also called his friends and appealed to them to save him, but no one could save him.”

Muhammad Arif, the nephew of Karachi resident Muhammad Hussain, worked at a pottery shop in this building. Muhammad Hussain said that his phone had been switched off since 11 am. According to him, “If the relief work had started on time, there might not have been so much damage and precious lives could have been saved.”

He raised the question, “This is the third time a building in Sadar has caught fire.” How long will this continue and how long will these bodies continue to rise?’

A common citizen, Quratul Ain Mudassar, is also present near the building. Speaking to journalist Zeeshan Nawab, she told that she had come here to see how the rescue work was going on. She said that she was relieved to see that ‘all the institutions are making their best efforts and they have already taken many people out safely from inside.’

Jamaat-e-Islami leader Muneem Zafar, who was outside the building, said that ‘it was the responsibility of the provincial government to implement the building code so that such incidents do not continue to be seen in Karachi.’

She also called her mother to ask someone to save her from the fire.

‘MY SHOPS WERE BURNING BEFORE MY EYES.’

A shopkeeper named Zain told the News Channel that the fire broke out on the ground floor at 10:30 pm on Saturday night and hundreds of people were inside the plaza besides the shopkeepers.

He said that the shopkeepers helped people to get out of the plaza on their own.

He alleged that the rescue personnel tried to put out the fire from outside instead of going inside, due to which they faced difficulties in rescuing the people inside.

“My shops kept burning in front of my eyes, we could not even remove the goods from these shops. Many people are still inside, I have many friends with whom there is no contact.”

However, Sindh government spokesperson Sadia Javed says that “everyone is speculating that people are trapped inside. Rescue personnel did not enter inside and even the market management does not know authentically how many people are trapped.”

According to Zain, there are three bag shops in Gul Plaza, which have been reduced to ashes.

The Sindh government spokesperson confirmed that two parts of Gul Plaza have been razed to the ground due to the fire.

‘There are also chemicals and plastic inside, which causes fires to flare up again and again.’

Another shopkeeper named Sufyan from Gul Plaza says that his jewellery shop was in the collapsed part of the plaza.

Sufyan said that his brother-in-law and a salesman were present at the shop when the fire broke out, but their whereabouts are still unknown.

According to Zain, Gul Plaza has 32 entrances and after the fire broke out, rescue workers could have entered through any of them and tried to put out the fire. But they did not have the necessary equipment to control such a large-scale fire.

An elderly citizen present at the scene of the accident was outside the plaza to inquire about his niece, her three daughters, granddaughter and son.

Speaking to the News Channel, he said that these people had come to Gul Plaza yesterday for wedding shopping.

They said, "We pray to Allah to show us a miracle and let us breathe. All the family members are worried." They said, "These are six members of the same family, who had locked their house. Now, who will open the lock of this house, only Allah knows."