Six killed in Pakistan shopping mall fire

A fire at a shopping centre in the Pakistan city of Karachi has killed six people as firefighters continue to battle the blaze.

Parts of the Gul Plaza, containing 1,200 stores and spanning 8,000 sq m (86,111 sq ft), have collapsed which officers said was hampering rescue efforts.

One firefighter is among the dead, more than 20 people have been injured and there are fears some are still trapped inside the multi-storey mall.

Local emergency services said that when helpers arrived at the site on Saturday “the fire from the ground floor had spread to the upper floors, and almost the entire building was already engulfed in flames”.

A senior police official told the BBC that the authorities had been unable to search the building for bodies as the fire has continued to burn.

More than 30 people have been reported missing by their families, who have gathered outside what remains of the centre, waiting anxiously for news of their loved ones. Administrators for the city have set up a desk to register the names and details of the missing.

Smoke was still billowing from what remains of the Gul Plaza building on Sunday morning. Much of it has collapsed and there are concerns it could collapse further.

Hassan Khan, a spokesperson for Rescue 1122 in Karachi, told BBC Urdu the shopping centre contains flammable materials such as plastic foam, cloth, carpets and perfume.

Summaiya Syed, Karachi’s police surgeon, said six bodies had been transferred to the city’s Civil Hospital as well as some of the injured.

She added that the police were “invoking mass disaster protocols”.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari expressed his condolences and told the government of Sindh province, where Karachi is based, to conduct a comprehensive review of safety arrangements in commercial and residential buildings across the area.