Gul Plaza fire: 'Closed exits, fire alarm absence resulted in losses of life'

KARACHI: Chief Fire Officer submitted reply to the questionnaire of the judicial commission inquiring into the deadly fire in Gul Plaza shopping mall.

The fire officer in his statement said that closed exits and absence of fire alarm resulted in loss of lives in the blaze. Fire official said that the first fire engine left in one minute after getting information about the fire.

He said the one-minute turn out has been according to the international standards. “Traffic and mobs around Gul Plaza affected movement of vehicles,” official said.

“The building was engulfed by an intense fire and smoke when the fire brigade reached to the spot,” he said. “Owing to the intensity of fire, it was difficult to determine the actual place,” fire officer said.

He said the fire spread rapidly owing to lacking fire safety arrangements in the building. “The blaze also quickly spread due to combustible material and false ceiling,” chief fire officer said.

He said several doors among total 13 gates of the premises were closed, locked or unusable. “People faced difficulty to exit due to lacking emergency exit marks, emergency lights and absence of trained staff.

“There were no specific internal pathways or safe stairs in the building for the firefighters,” fire officer said. “There were iron grills on various internal corridors and windows,” he said. These obstacles made access to the interior of the building difficult. “The firefighting made from the outside owing to hindrances in access and an unstable structure”.

He said the firefighters retrieved several persons live during their operations. “We were not timely informed about the number of people within the premises and their location”.

“The light was already off when the first fire tender reached to the building,” fire officer said. “The fire brigade didn’t instruct K-electric to disconnect the light of the premises”, he said.

“The stranded people could have easily evacuated, if the building would have an emergency light system,” fire officer said.

He said at the initial the first fire tender was supplied water from the central fire station. “The water tankers faced difficulties to reach to the spot owing to the traffic. “A consistent water supply by the water corporation’s tankers, became possible after vacating the area,” he said.

He said a firefighter, Furqan, was martyred owing to a falling portion of the building. “It emerged that the building’s structure has become vulnerable after death of Furqan,” he said.

CFO said that actual cause of the blaze could be determined after forensic investigation.

In an earlier hearing of probe, Director General Rescue 1122 Wajid Sibghatullah told the judicial commission that shutting down electricity of the shopping mall was the major mistake.

He said the lives could have been saved if Rescue 1122 was timely reported about the fire incident.

On Saturday night, January 17, a massive fire broke out at Gul Plaza on M.A. Jinnah Road, engulfing the commercial building and trapping dozens inside. The blaze raged for over 32 hours before being brought under control, exposing weaknesses of the city’s emergency response system.