• Amid fading hope, relatives of those trapped question pace of rescue efforts, lack of equipment
• Misinformation, rumours fuel frustration among families; death toll climbs to 21

KARACHI: Day three of frustrating and agonising wait remained witness to more heartbreaking scenes outside the burning Gul Plaza.

The first responders, headed by the firefighters were back to work at 8am after taking a break during the night. The fire was still not fully under control until late afternoon.

Family members of people still missing and feared to be trapped inside were slowly returning to their positions across the road on all three sides of the ill-fated building from where they watched with crazed eyes while being kept at bay by the Sindh Rangers.

Some silently recited Quranic verses as they prayed for the safe recovery of their loved ones. Others losing control openly showered abuses at the government. All were of the view that rescue work was too slow.

Some bystanders who only came to extend moral support said that maybe the gas in the air conditioners in the building was highly inflammable and making it harder for the firefighters to control the blaze which would erupt again from here or there after being put out. Some were worried that the cars on the roof of Gul Plaza, the building’s parking area, still had fuel in their tanks, which was also going to add to the fire.

A guard, who said he worked on the roof of the building, said that he still has the keys to a family’s car parked on the roof. “They gave me the keys, requesting me to move around their vehicle so it doesn’t get blocked by anyone parking behind it, as they would only be an hour shopping inside. They never returned,” he shared.

One man, Mohammed Ahmed, venting by loudly by shouting abuses at the government or whoever came in his way, was also mourning the loss of his four shops in Gul Plaza.

“I had four crockery shops here, two my own and two rented out by me along with 10 to 12 employees who are all missing. I am crying for them and the six to seven crores that I lost,” he cried.

A father, Gulfaz, said that he arrived there at 7am on Sunday in the hope of finding his son, Mohammed Usman, who worked in a crockery shop on the second floor.

“I finished night duty at the factory I work in to reach here directly after my brother and other son informed me that Usman was missing in the fire. I have not moved from here since but today is the third day of this fire, what can I hope for now?” he asked.

“There was some hope yesterday when we heard that some 40 people had been rescued from under the mosque’s collapsed roof inside. We hurried to the hospitals, wherever they were supposed to be taken, and nothing. It was false news. Why do people spread such lies in times like this?” he said wiping his tears.

Another ray of hope came during the night when many people claimed to have heard calls for help from inside which turned out to be someone’s imagination as no one was found upon investigation.

Some also saw someone flashing a cellphone light from inside one of the barred windows on the third floor. The crowd below was hysterical as they screamed at the fire fighters to break open the window grills. They did cut the grills and called out to whoever was supposedly flashing the light but there was no response. “It could have been a reflection or a laser pointer or something but it, too, turned out to be a false alarm,” said an eyewitness of the incident.

Yusra Ali, district incharge of Rescue 1122, told Dawn that they have teams entering Gul Plaza from the Rimpa Plaza side.

“We have searched from that side to find no survivors, even though chances of survival in a third-degree fire level are close to none. Even the bodies being recovered are so charred that we can’t even make out their gender. Still, people are bringing us photos of their loved ones to look for inside,” she shook her head sadly.

The family of Annas, who could not be found although his cousin Danish escaped alive by jumping to the Rimpa Plaza parking terrace, had returned, too. His sister questioned why rescue efforts were so slow.

“We have nothing else to do but wait here and watch the firefighters at work. It is the third day and they still have not been able to control the fire.

“They run out of water every 15 minutes. They are only wearing disposable surgical masks, not even one of them has a gas mask or a torch helmet. There is no difference between an ordinary person and a firefighter here due to lack of equipment,” the sister pointed out.

“Had there been a president, prime minister or politician stuck inside, there would have been helicopters hovering over Gul Plaza,” she regretted.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2026