More than 50 people remain missing. Police investigations are currently underway to determine the cause of the fire.
Published on January 19, 2026
The death toll of A fire at a mall in Karachi The number of people missing over the weekend has risen to at least 14, according to Pakistani authorities, while the search for more than 50 missing people continues.
Southern Police Deputy Inspector General Syed Asad Raza told Dawn newspaper on Monday that eight more bodies had been recovered by rescue workers since Sunday evening, raising the death toll from six to 14.
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The police surgeon Dr. Summaiya Syed told the daily that a total of five bodies had been taken to a local hospital.
Police and rescue teams used cell phone data to track down the 54 to 59 missing people and contacted families to collect details.
Karachi is Pakistan’s largest city and the capital of the southern province of Sindh.
Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori, who visited the site on Monday, told local media that “more than 70” people were missing.
“The reports of more than 70 missing people are extremely alarming and represent a great tragedy,” Tessori said, adding that the incident has now become “a national tragedy.”
The fire broke out late Saturday at the Gul Plaza shopping center, a densely populated commercial complex. Firefighters managed to bring the major fire under control after about 36 hours, allowing rescue workers to enter the building to rescue those trapped inside.
However, officials warned that the building was now extremely unstable and could collapse at any moment.
Later on Monday, emergency services chief operating officer Abid Jalal told Dawn that firefighting had resumed as flames continued to break out in part of the mall.
Officials initially suspected the fire was caused by a short circuit in one of the stores. However, they later said that the cause was yet to be determined and a police investigation was underway.
Shopkeepers and residents told local media that a delayed response and a lack of water and equipment hampered early firefighting, fueling anger among traders who said decades of livelihoods had been wiped out.
Karachi has a history of deadly fires, often blamed on poor safety standards and illegal construction. In November 2023, a fire at a shopping center in the city killed ten people and injured 22 others.
An inferno at a clothing factory in Karachi killed 260 people in 2012.
