KARACHI: Four prosecution witnesses, including a teenage boy, recorded their statements before a judicial magistrate on Monday, saying the deadly fire at Gul Plaza Shopping Mall started from an artificial flower shop on the ground floor.

The deadly inferno, which erupted on the night of Jan 17 at the mall and took nearly two days to be fully extinguished, has left the ground-plus-three-storey building in ruins, with some of its sections collapsed.

On Monday, the investigating officer of the case brought the four prosecution witnesses before Judicial Magistrate (South) Aasim Aslam for recording of their statements under Section 164 of the criminal procedure code.

One of the witnesses, 13-year-old Aryan, son of a shopkeeper, deposed that he saw 11-year-old Huzaifa, son of the flower shop owner, playing with matchsticks when the fire suddenly broke out on Jan 17.

He stated he went to the flower shop at around 10pm to meet Huzaifa before leaving the plaza. He said Huzaifa was alone at the shop and was playing with matchsticks when the fire suddenly erupted.

Besides Aryan, three salesmen also recorded their statements before the judicial magistrate.

Waleed stated that on the night of the incident he was inside a shop when he heard someone’s shout that a fire had broken out. He said he stood up and saw that the fire was already raging in the artificial flower shop.

He added that he, along with some other shopkeepers, tried to remove the artificial flowers from the shop but found that they were fixed with screws.

“The fire intensified and the place was filled with smoke,” he said, adding that till then the market committee members had arrived at the spot.

He added that as the fire became uncontrollable, he stepped back and managed to escape from the plaza.

Another salesman, Hamza, 29, said that while he was busy doing the accounts of his shop, he saw a fire erupted in Shop No 193 (artificial flower shop). He said when the blaze did not subside despite attempts to douse it with water, he ran towards an exit to save his life.

Talha, 28, said that he was talking with his colleague when the fire suddenly broke out in the flower shop. He added that he and other shopkeepers tried to extinguish the blaze, but realising its intensity, they decided to save their lives.

A manslaughter case was registered on the complaint of the SHO of the Nabi Bux police station against unknown persons.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2026