Gul Plaza fire: Judicial commission holds multiple institutions responsible as Sindh govt release report

The Sindh Home Department on Saturday released the judicial commission’s report on the Gul Plaza fire, which killed more than 70 people and destroyed the shopping centre earlier this year.

The report identified multiple failures and said the building remained in commercial use despite being declared hazardous and violating fire safety regulations.

According to the report, the Gul Plaza administration failed to address known safety defects. Civil Defence inspections in 2024 and 2025 had found a lack of fire safety equipment, flammable materials and deficiencies in emergency exits.

The commission also noted a significant delay in informing the fire brigade. The shutdown of electricity plunged the building into darkness, further reducing the chances of people escaping from upper floors. Although a speaker system was available, it was not used during the emergency.

The report said the building had 1,153 shops despite its regularised plan allowing 1,102, with large quantities of flammable commercial goods stored inside.

It also criticised the fire brigade’s response, saying effective firefighting began around 35 to 40 minutes after the fire started. Water shortages and the need for refilling further hampered firefighting and rescue operations.

The commission said that defects identified in 2024 and 2025 were not addressed and legal action was not pursued even after courts became operational in 2025.

It further observed that Rescue 1122 failed to turn the available rescue window into a large-scale operation. According to the report, rescue remained possible between 11:15pm and 11:20pm, while access through the ramp was still possible until around 11:30pm.

“People died not only because of the fire, but because of delays, darkness and blocked exits,” the report said, highlighting failures in safety systems, audits and emergency response.

The commission also found that no proper electrical inspection of Gul Plaza had been carried out, despite legal requirements for regular inspections of electrical installations and equipment.

The report concluded that responsibility could not be attributed to a single institution or government, saying multiple agencies responsible for building control, fire safety, inspections and emergency response had failed to function effectively as a system.

The Gul Plaza shopping centre on Karachi’s MA Jinnah Road caught fire on January 17 and continued to burn for three days. More than 70 people were killed in the tragedy.