Pakistan: Several killed in shopping mall fire

A blaze ripped through a shopping mall in Pakistan's southwestern metropolis of Karachi on Saturday, killing at least 10 people, officials said.

More than 20 others were injured as the fire took hold on the fourth floor of the multi-story RJ Mall.

Dozens of people were inside the six-story building in the southern port city at the time.

Local broadcaster Geo News said the blaze started early in the morning and that the fire brigade had rescued around 50 people.

Fire blamed on generator fault

Shahid Hussain, a spokesman for the Chippa welfare organization, which runs a rescue service, said the fire was started by a generator short circuit and spread to engulf two floors of the building.

Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the blaze had been extinguished and a cooling process was underway.

Poor safety laws and building codes as well as lax enforcement mean fires in large residential and commercial buildings are frequent in Pakistan.

Fire departments in the country are largely understaffed and ill-equipped to handle disasters.

Earlier this year in April, a fire tore through a garment factory in Karachi, killing four firefighters.

In August 2021, at least 10 people were killed in a fire at a chemical factory in the same city.

In 2012, at least 250 laborers died at a garment factory in Baldia Town, in western Karachi, when a fire engulfed the facility that had no fire escape.

mm/wmr (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)