A massive fire ripped through the Gul Plaza shopping centre in downtown Karachi, killing six people and leaving more than 65 unaccounted for. Firefighters battled the blaze for over 24 hours before beginning to cool the steaming, nearly collapsed structure. Officials say poor ventilation and combustible goods inside the mall hindered rescue efforts, and a circuit breaker is suspected to have sparked the fire. Hundreds of shop owners gathered at the scene as authorities warned parts of the building could still fall.
Karachi Mall Blaze: Six Dead, 65+ Unaccounted For as Gul Plaza Is Devastated
Flames and smoke rise from a fire that broke out in the Gul Plaza Shopping Centre in Karachi, Pakistan, January 18, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Karachi, Jan 18 — Fire crews in Karachi searched on Sunday for more than 65 people after a massive blaze tore through the Gul Plaza shopping centre in the historic downtown, killing six and reducing large sections of the building to rubble.
Videos showed flames engulfing the multi-storey mall as firefighters battled through the night to stop the Saturday-night fire from spreading across the densely packed business district. After more than 24 hours of firefighting, crews began cooling the steaming, nearly collapsed structure.
Smoke rises as firefighters spray water to extinguish a massive fire that broke out in the Gul Plaza Shopping Centre building, in Karachi, Pakistan, January 18, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Firefighters told Geo News that poor ventilation inside the mall, which houses roughly 1,200 shops, allowed smoke to accumulate and severely hampered rescue efforts. Officials also warned that carpets, blankets and other resin-containing goods fuelled the blaze and caused it to smoulder long after visible flames had subsided.
"It appears to have been caused by a circuit breaker," Sindh Police Chief Javed Alam Odho told reporters at the scene, according to Dawn News. "The layout and construction of this market — and the nature of the items in it — such as carpets, blankets and other objects made of resins, mean the fire is still simmering."
Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab said 65 people remained unaccounted for. Rescue officials confirmed six fatalities and 20 people wounded. Hundreds of distraught shop owners and local residents gathered around the damaged building, with some chanting criticism of officials after an alleged delay in the mayor's arrival.
Smoke rises from a fire burning in a part of the Gul Plaza Shopping Centre building that collapsed after a massive fire broke out, in Karachi, Pakistan, January 18, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Rescue 1122 spokesperson Hassanul Haseeb Khan told Reuters emergency teams received a call at 10:38 p.m. (1738 GMT) reporting ground-floor shops at the multi-storey Gul Plaza were ablaze. By Sunday evening the blackened, twisted metal frame lay scattered on the street along with fallen air-conditioning units and signage, and rescue workers warned the entire structure could still collapse.
Authorities continued search-and-recovery operations while investigating the exact cause and assessing safety and regulatory failures that may have contributed to the scale of the disaster.
(Reporting by Mohammed Waseem and Ariba Shahid; Writing by Saad Sayeed; Editing by Tom Hogue and Diane Craft)
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