Rescue operation continues for ninth day in Gul Plaza; death toll rises to 71

KARACHI: Rescue and recovery efforts at the site of the Gul Plaza tragedy entered their ninth consecutive day on Friday, as Urban Search and Rescue teams recovered additional human remains from the third floor of the damaged building, rescue authorities confirmed.

Officials said the remains have been shifted to Civil Hospital Karachi for DNA profiling to establish the identities of the victims. With the latest recovery, the death toll from the incident has risen to 71, while the search operation continues amid fears that more bodies may still be trapped under the debris.

Authorities stated that heavy machinery and manual search techniques are being used simultaneously to clear rubble from the site, adding that the operation remains complex due to the unstable structure of the building.

MQM AND PPP TRADE BARBS

Meanwhile, the tragedy has sparked a sharp political war of words between Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Farooq Sattar, as both sides traded blame over responsibility for one of Karachi’s deadliest urban disasters in recent years.

Addressing the media earlier, Sharjeel Inam Memon blamed decades-old policies and the culture of illegal construction in the city, alleging that such practices flourished during MQM’s tenure. He said the Gul Plaza incident was not the result of a single day’s negligence but the outcome of administrative failures spanning several decades.

“No matter how fluent Farooq Sattar’s Urdu may be, he cannot change reality,” Memon remarked, adding that those who laid the foundations for illegal constructions and later regularised them must be held accountable.

Responding to the allegations, MQM-P leader Farooq Sattar rejected the claims and accused the Sindh government of shifting blame instead of addressing governance failures. He questioned the delayed response of senior provincial and city officials, alleging that key authorities reached the site many hours after the tragedy unfolded.

Sattar also raised concerns over fire safety preparedness in Karachi, claiming that hundreds of buildings lack proper safety arrangements despite the Sindh government being in power since 2008. He called for an independent judicial commission to probe the incident, proposing the inclusion of NAB, FIA, PDMA, and the Pakistan Engineering Council in the investigation.

As rescue operations, victim identification, and investigations continue, the Gul Plaza tragedy has once again highlighted serious questions about urban safety, regulatory enforcement, and accountability in Pakistan’s largest city.