Fashion entrepreneur and actor Nadia Hussain has expressed deep grief and outrage over the devastating Karachi plaza fire, calling it a “collective failure and a heartbreaking reminder of the city’s neglected state.”
Taking to Instagram, Nadia Hussain shared a series of haunting pictures and video clips from the site of the tragic fire, showing ashes and debris left behind after the blaze. The visuals were accompanied by a long, emotional message that resonated strongly with Karachiites already reeling from the loss.
“This unbelievable, horrific tragedy has left all Karachiites in utter despair, grief, and complete shock,” she wrote, reflecting the pain and anger felt across the city.
“A fire could not be put out in time that caused the deaths of so many people and losses worth crores and crores. Where were the proper firefighting trucks? Why was the fire burning for more than 24 hours?” she asked.
The huge blaze, which erupted at Gul Plaza on Saturday night, took 35 hours to extinguish. Firefighters said they had largely completed their operation, though efforts continued to remove rubble after rescue teams heard cries from inside and feared that the fragile multi-storey structure could collapse.
Rescue workers retrieved eight more bodies from the rubble on Monday morning, raising the death toll to 14, including a firefighter and a child, while about 60 people were still reported missing.
In her post, Nadia questioned the authorities over the delayed response and lack of resources, raising serious concerns about the city’s fire safety infrastructure.
Army units, along with the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), have been deployed to support civic bodies in clearing debris and accessing areas rendered unreachable due to structural damage.
Also Read: Karachi inferno death toll climbs to 14
Nadia described Karachi as a selfless yet abandoned mother. “Karachi is our proverbial mother. It feeds everyone else, yet when time comes for her to eat, there’s nothing left on the plate. Yet she will get up the next morning and start feeding again,” she wrote.
She went on to say that the city now feels like an “ailing, weak, dilapidated and handicapped mother” whose children have left her by the roadside, accusing society and those in power of indifference and neglect.
Nadia urged citizens to raise their voices and take responsibility for the city. “We need to wake up and take care of our city. We need to raise our voices, and we need to fight,” she emphasised.