KARACHI: There were puddles and pools of water from the fire tenders front and back roads of Gul Plaza and still the fire that broke out in the well-known shopping centre in the heart of M.A. Jinnah Road on Saturday night could not be put out completely, even until sundown on Sunday.

The building with more than a thousand shops specialising in selling luggage, crockery, decoration items, plastic goods, toys, garments and so much more, was charred black.

“Allah Khair Karey”, “Ya Allah Reham”, one overheard someone utter here or there as they watched the scene of fire being put out on one side before starting again from there within minutes.

Cousins Mohammed Ramzan and Mohammed Imran stood watching, too, one cousin holding the other close, the horror clearly visible in their eyes as they knew well but did not want to accept what could have happened to their cousin Faisal Ghani who worked at a crockery shop on the second floor. “We are all shopkeepers from this area who happen to be on the same WhatsApp group,” Mohammed Ramzan told Dawn. “Many in the group sent out their final messages. One, Sarfaraz Lachoo, even asked for forgiveness from everyone if he unknowingly ever hurt anyone’s feelings. Others, too, sent similar messages,” he shared. His own cousin, Faisal, though had not shared anything in the group but called him personally to inform that a terrible fire had broken out in Gul Plaza.

Amid chaos, survivors recount tales of bravery and last text messages

Abid there was looking for his brother Asif, who he said was still inside. Mohammad Waheed was missing nephew Naveed Shahzad who worked at a picture frames shop on the first floor along with two other young men named Hassan Ali and Aamir. A survivor, Hamza Ali, who worked in the same shop as Naveed, Hassan and Aamir, said that while his other colleagues closed their shop doors to keep the smoke out, he along with Aamir decided to get out.

“It was very dark because of the smoke and complete chaos all over. We found many women and children unconscious on the floor. We were familiar with the building passages as we worked there. There is a small mosque on our floor and we escaped through its washroom,” said Hamza. “I had inhaled too much smoke and was taken to hospital but Aamir, after realising that he had found a safe way to get out, went back inside to rescue others from the same way we made it out. He was able to bring outside to safety five children he had encountered while coming out. Then he went back in again to help others. Now I find that he lost his life while saving others,” he said.

Mohammad Yousuf there was looking for four missing family members, one of whom was Sarfaraz who had sent the farewell message in the WhatsApp group earlier. He also had with him two young boys of 15 years to 18 years.

One woman was looking for her colleagues, two salesgirls from a basement women’s undergarments shop, who were also among the missing, feared dead. “It’s the second day with no sign of them. I am losing hope,” she said with tears in her eyes.

Another girl, Maham, who worked in an abaya shop in the basement was also missing, with little hope of having survived.

There was also slim hope left in Umair’s heart as he silently stood at the site speaking on the phone to his sister whose husband Ramzan was still said to be inside. “He worked in a crockery shop on the mezzanine floor but could not get out,” he said. “The entire shop’s staff of four, led by the shop’s owner, formed a chain by holding each other’s hands as they stepped out in the smoky corridors. All, except my brother-in-law, made it. The one holding his hand said he lost his grip during the stampede and could not find him in the smoke,” he said. “My sister and their two young children are still praying that he survived. But they are following the news on TV and social media too. They also know in their hearts,” he said with a lump forming in his throat.

Mrs Aslam, an aunt sitting outside a small white tent facing whatever was left of Gul Plaza, was grateful to the Almighty to have spared one nephew, her sister’s son, while another nephew, her brother’s son, was missing. “Annas Imran is my brother’s son. He ran a toy shop on the third floor with his cousin and my sister’s son Danish Feroz,” she said. “Annas is still inside. He had called his father last night after the fire to tell him that he could not breathe, and that was it. We could not get in touch with him again despite many attempts,” she cried.

Meanwhile, Danish, the surviving nephew, told Dawn that he jumped out of Gul Plaza to save himself. “From the third floor, I jumped on to the parking lot of Rimpa Plaza next door at around 11pm,” he shared.

A father, Mohammed Shakil, said that his 17-year-old son Fahad, who worked in a jewellery shop there, was helped out by his colleagues. “Some people still have a presence of mind, which they use to help themselves and others. But, sadly, most people also panic in situations like these,” said the father.

Panic was also seen among the people with loved ones inside. Understandably, they were not willing to listen to reason and were very critical of the rescue efforts. “We have the Navy here, we have the Rangers. They are capable of fighting battles but here there is a building on fire with so many people trapped inside, and no efforts being made to get them out,” said one person representing the shopkeepers and business community there. “We are feeling helpless just standing around doing nothing but watch. And when we try to make our own efforts to go inside, the force is used against us,” he said.

A haggler’s paradise

The greenish-blue building — a Karachi icon — has long been the destination of choice for middle-class shoppers seeking domestic-use products on wholesale rates. A haggler’s paradise, many people prefer it to other, more specialised markets because traders here would stock varieties to satisfy all income groups.

Any household shopping trip, be it carpets you seek or crockery and household electronics, whether you wanted a “first copy” or a “China copy” — if you could find it in Gul Plaza, why go elsewhere?

This is possibly what Kausar Parveen and five other members of her family thought when they made their way to Gul Plaza on Saturday night.

According to family sources in Delhi Colony, the 60-year-old Kausar was accompanied by Irfan (35), Misbah (30), Kiran (27), Ashraf (40) and 14-year-old Maryam. They were supposed to be shopping for a family wedding, scheduled to be held after Eid.

According to family members, they last heard from the six around 10pm, around the time the blaze started. Since then, their phones are non-responsive, and there has been no word about their whereabouts.

A group of men were talking animatedly among themselves, discussing the fire brigade’s response.

“The building was so congested, there were definitely no fire safety measures. The people trapped inside never stood a chance.”

“Yes, but the government is also responsible for ensuring something, right? I heard that the fire brigade got here after quite some time.”

“That’s true, if they had been quicker, many lives could have been saved.”

“Not just lives, livelihoods.”

An employee of one of the shops said that he and his co-workers escaped by breaking the glass of the first floor and jumping down.

“When the fire broke out on the lower floor, the smoke filled the upper floors. Breathing became impossible. We covered our faces with wet cloths, made our way out and jumped. By the grace of God, we made it out alive.”

A resident of Nazimabad said his younger brother Naveed was trapped inside with five co-workers.

“We last contacted him at 11:45pm on Saturday,” he said, pleading for the government to accelerate the firefighting operation so that the search and rescue operation for their loved ones could begin sooner.

Similarly, there were dozens of people searching for their loved ones and waiting for the fire to be extinguished and rescue operations to begin.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2026