Police register FIR of Karachi shopping mall blaze
Pakistan
Police register FIR of Karachi shopping mall blaze
KARACHI (Dunya News) – Police on Sunday registered a first information report (FIR) of Saturday’s shopping mall blaze that claimed 11 innocent lives in Karachi's Gulistan-e-Johar area.
Sources said the police were yet to make any arrests.
According to details, the fire, that broke out at 6:20 am in the fourth floor of a commercial high-rise building, RJ Shopping Mall, in Gulistan-e-Johar area, claimed at least 11 innocent lives and wounded five others.
Officials at the Shahrah-e-Faisal Police Station noted that the absence of adequate ventilation within the building contributed to the fatalities.
Following the incident on Saturday, Sindh’s caretaker Chief Minister Justice (r) Maqbool Baqar ordered a safety audit of commercial and government buildings across the province in a bid to avert such tragedies in the future.
Authorities, including the Sindh Building Control Authority, Provincial Disaster Management Authority, Civil Defence, and local administrative bodies, have been directed to conduct safety audits and submit their reports with recommendations.
Investigations revealed that the six-story building lacked crucial safety features, such as emergency exits and a fire alarm system, with suspicions pointing towards a short circuit as the fire's origin.
The FIR outlines a comprehensive inquiry covering several aspects: building construction approvals, adherence to maps and plans, potential complicity of K-Electric and other entities, negligence and the use of substandard materials.
Legal sections invoked in the FIR include those related to manslaughter, causing mischief by fire, negligent conduct regarding buildings and fires, along with the involvement of multiple individuals in these actions.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Syed Irfan Bahadur stated that further legal actions would follow once experts determined the exact cause and contributing factors behind the fire.
