Karachi shopping mall fire: Death toll rises to five as another body recovered

The death toll in a fire that engulfed a six-storey commercial-cum-residential building near Ayesha Manzil on Wednesday evening has risen to five.

The blaze in the building, named Arshi Shopping Centre, was reportedly caused by welding work on the ground floor.

Eyewitnesses stated that it began in one shop but quickly spread to others in the furniture market below.

The building includes 450 residential flats on the upper four floors and 250 shops on the ground floor, including shops of furniture, mattresses, and petroleum products on the mezzanine floor.

The fire is believed to have weakened the structure that could collapse at any time. The building was completely evacuated within two hours by the fire department. Unfortunately, the death toll increased to five as rescue personnel discovered another body on the first floor of the shopping mall. He apparently succumbed to suffocation and burns.

The ground and mezzanine floors of the building suffered severe damage, resulting in the loss of goods worth hundreds of thousands of rupees and damage to numerous motorcycles and vehicles.

Following the incident, the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) sealed the shopping centre.

The future usability of the building will be determined after a thorough inspection by the SBCA. However, the cooling process of the building was completed by Thursday morning by the fire department.