Gul Plaza fire: Three Lyari teenage boys still missing

KARACHI: Three teenage boys from Karachi’s Lyari working at Gul Plaza remain missing after deadly fire that broke out on Saturday night, ARY News reported.

As per details, three teenage boys named Hamza, 13, Hassam, 15, and Abdus Samad, 16, residents of Lyari’s Cheel Chowk area, remain missing following the deadly fire. All three worked at shops in Gul Plaza and have not been traced so far.

Abdus Samad’s father, Muhammad Abdul Rehman, has been left devastated by the tragedy. Overcome with grief due to his son’s disappearance, he collapsed at the scene.

Families from Lyari staged a strong protest, holding photographs of the missing children and chanting slogans against the authorities, demanding answers and urgent action.

Meanwhile, Karachi remains in mourning over the Gul Plaza tragedy. The death toll from the devastating fire has risen to 26, while 75 people are still unaccounted for.

During ongoing rescue operations, seven more bodies were recovered from the building. Rescue officials said that some human remains had also been found in the debris, while unidentifiable bodies have been shifted to the Edhi mortuary.

The Chief Operating Officer of Rescue Services stated that cooling operations at the site are expected to continue for another 24 to 36 hours.

A massive fire at Gul Plaza on M.A. Jinnah Road has left the city reeling, as authorities confirm the blaze, which broke out on January 17 around 10:00 P.M., was brought under control after 34 hours, but the building remains structurally fragile and unsafe.

Rescue teams, backed by the Army, Rangers and the civil administration, are continuing a cautious search operation for missing persons while engineers assess the stability of the damaged structure, amid growing fears of further collapse as new details continue to emerge from the site.