AU URGES DE-ESCALATION AS FIGHTING DISPLACES OVER 180,000 IN SOUTH SUDAN’S JONGLEI STATE. (PHOTO).
Deadly fire engulfs Karachi shopping plaza, 14 confirmed dead, dozens still missing
KARACHI, PAKISTAN - At least 14 people have died after a massive fire broke out at a shopping plaza in Karachi over the weekend, officials said Monday, while dozens more remain missing.
The blaze started Saturday night at Gul Plaza on M.A. Jinnah Road and was largely extinguished about 24 hours later, allowing rescue teams to search through the rubble for survivors. Authorities reported that between 54 and 59 people are still unaccounted for.
Deputy Inspector General South, Asad Raza, said police had obtained the phone numbers of those missing and had located 26 of them near the plaza. "Further scrutiny is underway," he added.
Gul Plaza, located in Gazdarabad in Karachi’s historic Saddar Town district, is a multi-story shopping center housing more than 1,200 shops. The exact cause of the fire is unknown, though some officials suspect an electrical short circuit. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said, “It is too early to determine the exact cause.”
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif announced that federal agencies had been instructed to provide full support to local authorities. “In this time of grief and hardship, we stand with the affected people and the Sindh government,” he said, emphasizing the need for an effective system to control fires in densely populated urban areas.
Search and rescue operations are ongoing.
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