Name: Karachi mall fire: Rescue teams still searching severely damaged site
Uploaded: 2026-01-21T04:05:31.144Z
Duration: 1 min 54 s
Description: Rescue teams search for survivors after a deadly blaze devastates a major shopping mall in Pakistan’s largest city. Local authorities and residents have criticized the response time and highlighted systemic issues in building safety enforcement.

Rescue teams search for survivors after a deadly blaze devastates a major shopping mall in Pakistan’s largest city. Local authorities and residents have criticized the response time and highlighted systemic issues in building safety enforcement.

Karachi

Rescue operations are ongoing at a shopping mall in Karachi, Pakistan, following a major fire that left dozens of people missing. Firefighters and emergency teams have faced challenges due to the building's lack of proper fire safety measures, with reports indicating there were no emergency exits and many people were trapped inside.

Local authorities and residents have criticized the response time and highlighted systemic issues in building safety enforcement. An audit conducted in 2024 found that only a fraction of buildings on major Karachi roads complied with safety standards, prompting calls for urgent reforms to prevent similar tragedies.

Karachi mall fire: Rescue teams still searching severely damaged site

risking their lives. Firefighters make desperate attempts to extinguish the flames. Days after the fire broke out at this shopping mall in Karachi, dozens of people are still missing, but hopes are fading that anyone will be found alive in the ruins. People here say help came too late. A senior official of the Rapid Response Agency tells us the city has several emergency response teams, and needs better coordination. Many here say the tragedy could have been avoided. The Sindh Building Control Authority repeatedly claims that no building plan is approved without mandatory safety measures. Yet, on the ground, these approvals continue through corrupt practices. The result is a city full of unsafe buildings with little or no fire safety arrangements. A 2024 audit of 266 buildings on three major roads in Karachi found only 90 complied with safety standards. Under the Pakistan Building Code, all businesses must be equipped with fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, and alarms are mandatory, and emergency exits need to be clearly marked, unobstructed, and equipped with outward-pushing doors. The shopping mall had 1,200 shops. It's not known what, if any, fire safety measures they had. But rescue workers say there were no emergency exits, and people were trapped in the burning building. People here say the fire is a wake-up call. They're calling for action, not merely words, to ensure it doesn't happen again. Kamal Haider, Al Jazeera, Karachi.

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