Gul Plaza sealed as 82 missing persons' search ends; death toll stands at 73

The process of sealing the Gul Plaza building began on Monday following the deadly fire incident, as Karachi authorities moved to secure the site for further investigation.

According to the 24NewsHD TV channel, personnel of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) started digging pits around Gul Plaza to install iron shuttering as part of the sealing process.

Under the KMC plan, the building will be enclosed with green plastic netting, while a technical team has reached the site to assess the structural condition of the damaged structure.

Earlier in the day, the search operation related to the Gul Plaza tragedy was largely completed, while debris removal continued for the tenth consecutive day.

After the completion of debris clearance on Monday, a structural survey of the building was conducted by the experts, following which the premises were sealed.

As of Monday, the death toll from the incident stands at 73, while 82 people have been reported missing since the fire, and finally, the search for them has now been halted.

A day earlier, Citizens-Police Liaison Committee Project In-Charge Aamir Hassan said that following the identification of additional victims through DNA testing, the number of confirmed fatalities in the Gul Plaza tragedy had reached 73. He said that so far 23 bodies had been identified with the help of DNA analysis.

Authorities have registered a formal first information report at the Nabi Bakhsh Police Station over the incident, with the government acting as the complainant.

The FIR includes sections related to negligence and carelessness; however, no individual has been nominated so far, as the official investigation report is still awaited. As a result, the case has been registered against unknown persons.

Police sources said several factors aggravated the situation during the incident, including prolonged power outages and multiple locked doors inside the building, which obstructed evacuation and rescue efforts.

Investigators have also recovered four digital video recorders from the site, which are being examined to determine the cause of the fire. Valuables recovered from the building, including 1.5 kilograms of gold and more than Rs100,000 in cash, have been returned to their rightful owners.

Reporter: Osama Malik