The death toll from a devastating fire at a shopping mall in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi has risen to around 50 after firefighters recovered up to 25 bodies from the debris, officials have said.
Fire crews retrieved the remains on Wednesday from the burned-out Gul Plaza shopping complex, taking the toll up from 29 reported a day earlier.
"We have found 20 to 25 dead bodies, or you call them remains," Deputy Commissioner Javed Nabi Khoso told reporters.
He said the remains had been transported to a hospital for DNA matching, adding that difficulties in identification made it hard to provide a precise death toll.
The blaze broke out late on Saturday and rapidly spread through the sprawling mall, which housed around 1,200 family-run shops selling wedding clothes, toys, crockery and other goods.
Firefighters battled the inferno until Tuesday.
By the time the fire was brought under control, Gul Plaza had been reduced to rubble and ash.
Fears of more
According to a state-run rescue service, 84 people have been registered as missing.
Police have said most of the missing are feared dead, raising concerns that the toll could climb further.
A small crowd gathered near the site on Wednesday to pay tribute to the victims, lighting candles and holding photographs of those believed to have died.
"It is a doomsday scenario," said shopkeeper Rehmat Khan after entering what remained of the plaza.
He said 18 to 20 people, including six staff members, had been inside his shop when the fire erupted. All remain unaccounted for.
The blaze is Karachi’s deadliest since a fire tore through an industrial site in 2012, killing more than 260 people.
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Source: TRT