Karachi blaze: Fire brigade, KE named in shopping mall inferno FIR

• At least 11 dead in mall blaze, six in critical condition.
• FIR includes provisions of culpable homicide, negligence.
• KE, fire dept issued NOC despite use of “defective material”.

The government on Sunday registered a case against Karachi Electric (KE), the fire brigade and other departments with the city’s Shahrah-e-Faisal police station one day after nearly a dozen people lost their lives in a fire incident at a multi-storey building on Karachi’s Rashid Minhas Road.

According to officials, at least 11 people were killed on Saturday after a fire broke out in the RJ shopping mall. Following the incident, rescue teams shifted the wounded to a nearby hospital where six of the injured are said to be in “critical condition,” Geo News reported.

The first information report (FIR) — with provisions of culpable homicide, negligence and damages for the lives lost in the tragic incident —mentions that the fire in the building is suspected to have started due to a short circuit. 

It added that the building had no fire extinguishers and no emergency exits, while its map was also approved illegally.

“Bad materials were used in the construction of the building,” the FIR stated.

According to fire brigade officials, nearly 50 people were trapped inside as rescuers doused fire during an intense hours-long operation involving two snorkels, eight fire tenders and a bowser.

It also mentioned the role of KE and the fire brigade, which issued a no objection certificate (NOC) to the shopping mall despite the use of defective material. It added that the company, government department and other institutions committed criminal negligence.

Meanwhile, the funeral prayers for Shahzeb, one of the dead in the fatal fire incident, were offered in Karachi’s Liaquatabad area.

Shahzeb, according to his uncle, was a software engineer and left for work at around 4am. His family later found out about his office catching fire.

The young Shahzeb was to be wedded next month, his uncle told Geo News. “We demand justice.”