The death toll from the Gul Plaza blaze rose to at least 23 with Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab saying that 65 people remained missing.
The fire had erupted on Saturday night. The plaza, parts of which collapsed due to the blaze, was a ground-plus-three-storey building with 1,200 shops spread over 8,000 square yards.
While the fire at the mall located on M.A Jinnah Road was said to be doused after more than 24 hours on Sunday, firefighting efforts had to resume on Monday as flames reignited from the smouldering debris.
In the evening, Karachi South Deputy Inspector General Syed Asad Raza told that 23 bodies had been recovered from the debris. He added that the body parts of some of the victims had been recovered.
In a statement, Rescue 1122 Chief Operating Officer (COO) Dr Abid Jalal said that while “more than 20 bodies have been recovered, the final number of dead cannot be stated at the moment”.
“Some bodies have been recovered in the form of body parts from various locations,” he said.
“Until it is determined through a technical and forensic verification whether these parts are of the same person or different people, confirming the correct number of deaths is difficult.”
