KARACHI: The Gul Plaza Judicial Commission on Saturday issued notices to six survivors of the Jan 17 devastating fire asking them to appear before it to record their testimonies.

The single-member commission headed by Justice Agha Faisal of the Sindh High Court said Mohammad Shahzad, Syed Abdullah, Muhammad Junaid, Muhammad Ayan, Fahad and Ali Haider were reported to be present inside the ground-plus-three-storey building when the fire broke out.

It said they managed to survive the inferno and their appearance before the commission was required on Feb 25 to record their statements, production of record and consideration of evidence pertaining to the inquiry.

Around 80 people had lost their lives in the deadly inferno which erupted on the night of Jan 17 and took nearly two days to be fully extinguished.

Initially, the Sindh government had formed a two-member inquiry committee comprising Karachi commissioner and city police chief. However, on opposition parties demand it formed a judicial commission to probe the deadly fire.

Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2026