KARACHI: At least nine people were killed and one was injured in a blaze at RJ Mall on Karachi’s Rashid Minhas Road on Saturday, hospital and police officials said.
Police surgeon Summaiya Syed told Dawn.com that nine bodies have been brought to hospitals — eight at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and one at Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK).
She further said that an 18-year-old was currently admitted at CHK.
In a report submitted to the chief minister’s house, District East Deputy Commissioner Altaf Sheikh said that “22 people had been rescued and shifted to JPMC, out of which one succumbed to injuries on the way.”
The DC added that the building had been cleared up to the fourth floor while clearance of the fifth and sixth floors was underway.
Sharea Faisal Station House Officer (SHO) Raja Tariq Mehmood told Dawn.com the building was a commercial high-rise that housed shopping centres, call centres and software houses.
A statement from the Fire and Rescue spokesperson said they were alerted about the incident at 6:30am, after which eight fire tenders, two snorkels and two bowsers were sent.
The statement further said the fire had since been controlled and the cooling process was now underway.
Sindh Inspector General (IG) Riffat Mukhtar had issued directives to District East’s senior superintendent of police to take every possible step to rescue those trapped inside the building. He also ordered that the road be cleared so that fire brigades could reach there without any hassle.
Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Justice (rtd) Maqbool Baqar took notice of the incident and issued a direction for the injured to be provided medical aid immediately.
In a statement, he expressed grief on the loss of lives of “six people” and directed the city commissioner to rescue the trapped persons safely. The chief minister stated that the responsibility for “people’s lives and belongings was of the government”.
Earlier this week, city planners and engineers said they were sure some 90 per cent of all structures in Karachi — residential, commercial and industrial — did not have fire prevention and firefighting systems.
They agreed that it was “criminal negligence” on the part of regulatory bodies like the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) that put the lives of millions of people in the metropolis at risk.
