The Delhi High Court has stayed proceedings in a criminal defamation case filed against Sudarshan TV and its editor Suresh Chavhanke in connection with allegations that his channel made false accusations against a madrasa. The case against Chavhanke was filed by Mohammed Tufail Khan
China said on Sunday (August 23, 2026) it was postponing its planned ambitious Chang'e-7 lunar mission, which was set to carry out explorations including searching for water ice on the moon. The Chang'e-7 spacecraft was originally set to lift off in the coming days from the Wenchang Space Launch
Canada’s Carney Puts His ‘No Deal Is Better Than a Bad Deal’ Doctrine to the Test The prime minister ’s approach has broad support from the Canadian public and his political opponents, but it isn’t without risks. Published on: Aug 24, 2026, 14:05:27 IST WSJ Prefer HTon Google Share via
A group of former cricket captains, including Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar and one of England's longest-serving skippers Sir Alastair Cook, have called on Pakistan to ensure its ex-PM Imran Khan be given proper care while in custody. The cricketer-turned-politician has been in jail since
Fewer than 20 commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz at the weekend, shipping data showed on Monday (August 24, 2026), as Iranian and U.S. blockades restrict traffic through the chokepoint for energy shipments. Four vessels crossed the strait on Sunday (August 23, 2026)
Locked exits, panic and desperate calls for help: Survivors tell of mall fire horror
Locked exits, panic and desperate calls for help: Survivors tell of mall fire horror
Muhammed Amin is beside himself with grief and despair.
His brother, Naveed Memon, was inside Gul Plaza when a massive fire ripped through the densely-packed shopping centre in Pakistan's commercial capital, Karachi.
Like dozens of others, he still hasn't been found.
"What should I tell my mother when I go home? What should I tell my nieces?" asks Amin.
My nieces are crying for their father - they are asking me why he is late to come home. What should I tell them? How can I tell them that their father is gone?
Housing an estimated 1,200 shops across a basement, mezzanine and three floors, Gul Plaza was a wholesale market that offered a wide range of cheaply-priced products, including wedding wear, toys, decorations, bed sheets, artificial flowers and baby clothes. The city's residents would frequent it in droves, particularly ahead of festivals, weddings and other important occasions.
What started the fire is still unknown.
But witnesses say the speed at which it spread, a lack of working fire exits and the density of shoppers and stalls crammed into the building exacerbated the disaster.
Rehan Faisal, who owned a bedsheet shop, said that he was able to escape because his shop was located near one of the exits - he broke down the door to get out.
He said that although his staff had heard there was a fire in one part of the market, they had initially not worried because it was located some distance away from them.
"No-one knew it would spread so much," Faisal added, saying it only took about "five to seven minutes" for everything to "burn before our eyes".
Shoiab, 19, who worked at a decorations shop, said he first heard about the fire on a lower floor at around 22:00 local time (17:00 GMT) on Saturday night.
"Many customers and shopkeepers were coming up... and saying there was a fire downstairs. I was just beginning to comprehend the situation when the shop owner told me to lock up and get out," he told BBC Urdu.
Then suddenly everything was covered with smoke - we couldn't see anything and there was panic and confusion everywhere. People were just running here and there. I knew some ways to get out of the plaza. But the first exit I tried was locked and the crowds were too dense for me to go the other way.
With the facility due to close soon, most of the gates of the shopping centre were locked. Senior police official Syed Asad Raza told Reuters news agency that all but three of the centre's 16 exits were locked.
Shoiab was among the luckier ones. He fainted amid the smoke, but someone - he doesn't know who - pulled him out of the building to safety.
Another colleague who was trying to escape with him is still missing.
The confirmed death toll from the fire currently stands at 27, but more than 70 are still missing and the unstable structure of the still smouldering building is making it difficult for rescue officials to go inside and assess the full extent of the disaster.
Dr Abid Jalaluddin Sheikh, a senior rescue official, told BBC Urdu that rescue efforts were being slowed further because the structure of the building had been so severely damaged that it was at risk of completely collapsing at any time. He added that many bodies were unrecognisable and they would need to conduct forensic examinations to confirm the exact number of deaths.
Meanwhile crowds of people looking for their loved ones have gathered around the building, desperate for any news.
Muhammad Qaiser told the BBC that his wife, sister and daughter-in-law were among the missing. "They had said that they were going to the market. The last contact with them was at 20:00 when it was discovered that a fire had broken out. We do not know what happened to them."
Qaiser said that officials were unable to help them, describing how his family had been told to visit both the burns centre and the morgue at different times.
Another resident, Haroon, said that three of his brothers had been inside the building. Two managed to escape but one was still missing.
"My brother called our parents from inside the plaza asking them to save him. He also called his friends and appealed to them, but no one could save him," he said.
The survivor, Shoaib, is also still at the building hoping for news of his cousin, Faizan, who worked at a different shop.
"Every morning, I used to go to work and back with my cousin. Now I don't feel like going back home without him. I'm waiting for him to be pulled out of the building alive," he said, adding that his phone was ringing all the time because Faizan's family keep asking if he had any news.
I have no answers for them.
As the searches continue, anger is growing.
On Monday, hundreds of protesters gathered around the building calling for accountability.
Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab, who arrived on the scene nearly 24 hours after the fire broke out, was met with jeers.
Muhammed Arif, whose nephew is among the missing, says that the relief work did not start on time and that "precious lives could have been saved".
Many residents and politicians have echoed the sentiment that rescue officials took long to get to the building.
Faisal said that it took a long time for the fire brigade to arrive, "while the ambulances, which weren't even needed at that moment - had already reached".
News agency Reuters quoted rescue services as saying that authorities only received the first emergency call at 22:38 on Saturday, reporting that ground-floor shops were on fire. By the time firefighters arrived, the flames had already spread to the upper floors, engulfing much of the building.
Murad Ali Shah, the chief minister of the southern province of Sindh, which includes Karachi, has promised an investigation into the fire and response time.
And lawmakers from across the political spectrum on Tuesday condemned the fire and called for sweeping reforms in building safety, emergency response and urban governance, as the House debated an adjournment motion on the tragedy.
The prime minister is among those who have offered condolences and promised action.
But for those gathered at the ruins of Gul Plaza, this is little consolation.
"This is the third time in a while that a building has caught fire in the Saddar area of Karachi," said Muhammed Arif.
How long will this continue to happen and how many more people must die?
Source: BBC
Related Posts: World
India had asked the United States not to allow reporters to ask questions during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France in June, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said on Saturday
8 hours ago
Former Australian captain Greg Chappell with the support of 20 other former international skippers appealed to the Pakistan Government led by Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, to provide ‘humane treatment and proper medical care’ for Imran Khan
11 hours ago
The shock resignation of Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran earlier this month has left corporate India's top job vacant. But finding his successor will be no easy task for the country's most revered conglomerate, whose sprawling $300bn empire spans Jaguar Land Rover and Air India as well as
11 hours ago
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian defended a memorandum of understanding with the United States as the best way out of a stalled war. Meanwhile, the new head of the Islamic Republic's top security body warned, in a more forceful tone, of retaliation if neighbouring countries support U.S
11 hours ago
Authorities in China have launched an investigation into reports of formaldehyde being used to preserve the freshness of cabbages for human consumption. Officials in the northeastern Hebei province confirmed that they had verified footage showing individuals dipping cabbages in a solution before
11 hours ago
Three newborns died after a fire that broke out in the neonatal intensive care unit of a government hospital in Maharashtra’s Amravati district in the early hours of Monday, PTI reported. The fire broke out at the Amravati District Women’s Hospital around 3
11 hours ago
Imran's party demands immediate cardiac care for him at Shifa International Hospital Imran's party demands immediate cardiac care for him at Shifa International Hospital Published on: Aug 24, 2026, 11:10:49 IST PTI Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link Islamabad
11 hours ago
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s three-day visit to New Delhi in July 2026 for the India-Japan summit appears to have elevated relations between the two Asian countries into a fresh phase of strategic expansion. Ties had already undergone a remarkable transformation over the past decade
11 hours ago
How well do COVID antivirals actually work? Not as well as we thought How well do COVID antivirals actually work? Not as well as we thought Published on: Aug 24, 2026, 11:11:50 IST PTI Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link Sydeny, If you're aged over 70
11 hours ago
On Sunday, in a post on X, Wali said the audio contained "explosive evidence" and claimed that Brar admitted his gang had ordered Nijjar's killing, alleging that the assassination was driven by an inter-gang feud. Ottawa: Three years after NIA designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed in
15 hours ago
Until recently, there would have been little to distinguish Vietnam's so-called Justice Tree from the hundreds of others lining the streets of Hanoi. Then the bouquets started piling up. It was here that former politician Nguyen Sy Cuong was driving his BMW in May last year when he veered into the
15 hours ago
Fast-fashion giant Shein says it plans to raise up to HK13.86bn (£1.3bn; $1.77bn) when its shares start trading on the Hong Kong stock market on 1 September. In a filing on Monday, Shein said it will offer nearly 280 million shares for between HK$47.60 and HK$49.50
15 hours ago
A fast-moving, wind-driven wildfire near Reno, Nevada, has forced about 42,000 people to evacuate, while another 45,000 have been urged to prepare to leave. The Hawk Fire has burned 15,040 acres, destroyed some homes and injured six people. Officials declared a state of emergency as the blaze
15 hours ago
Former Indian diplomat Navdeep Suri has raised concerns about the verification process under the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Suri, a retired Indian Foreign Services officer, went through the process in Punjab. It is among the 16 states where the voter roll revision is being
14 hours ago
A moderate earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.9 rattled eastern Japan, including the Tokyo area, early Sunday (August 23, 2026), injuring more than 20 people, most of them slightly, officials said. There was no danger of a tsunami. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency
1 days ago
Chinese humanoid robots broke records set by humans, including beating Usain Bolt’s 100-meter sprint world record, on the opening day of the Olympics-like World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Saturday (August 22, 2026). More than 2,000 humanoid robots were participating in the event
1 days ago
One afternoon in 1907, a young accountant named Chandrasekhar Venkata Raman walked into the laboratory of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science at 210 Bowbazar Street in Calcutta. Though he had a passion for the sciences, colonial India offered no stable careers in the field
1 days ago
Three first information reports were filed against 14 identified and more than 200 unidentified persons on Saturday in connection with clashes between the police and student protesters a day earlier, PTI quoted Ranchi Superintendent of Police Paras Rana as saying
1 days ago
Did an Amazon delivery guy assault a 71-year-old man in California? What we know about the attack and lawsuit A California lawsuit alleged that an Amazon delivery driver assaulted a 71-year-old man at an Elk Grove gas station. Updated on: Aug 23, 2026
1 days ago
‘Pure evil’: Videos of mothers splashing water at their kids spark outrage amid Lindsay Clancy trial Social media videos of mothers throwing water at their children have sparked concerns amid Lindsay Clancy's trial. Published on: Aug 23, 2026
1 days ago
The sister of jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday (August 22, 2026) filed a petition in the Supreme Court, accusing the government and senior officials of violating the top court’s order to shift him to a private hospital for medical examination and treatment
1 days ago
The United States and Canada have entered into uncharted territory. The longtime allies and economic partners, who have enjoyed free trade for decades, are now in an escalating trade war with no clear off ramp. And for Prime Minister Mark Carney
1 days ago
Harrisburg weather update: Special Weather Statement issued for central Pennsylvania as thunderstorms bring 40mph wind NWS has issued a Special Weather Statement for Harrisburg and surrounding parts of central Pennsylvania. Published on: Aug 23, 2026
1 days ago
The police in Maharashtra’s Latur have registered a first information report against Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the Cockroach Janta Party political campaign, for allegedly entering a government school without permission, threatening teachers and defaming the institution
1 days ago
The United States and Iran exchanged defiant messages ahead of Monday’s (August 24, 2026) scheduled announcement of new U.S. economic sanctions that could impact the Islamic Republic and Tehran’s most important trading partners including China
1 days ago
Fourteen people were killed in military air strikes at a monastery in Myanmar early on Friday, opposition fighters and a local rescue worker have said. All of those killed were elderly and a number of monks were also injured, the rescue worker told BBC Burmese, adding that the site was struck twice
1 days ago
The Armed Forces Tribunal on Thursday upheld an administrative censure for a brigadier who was commanding a sector of the Rashtriya Rifles in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district in December 2023 when three civilians died during an interrogation following a militant attack
1 days ago
