Two Gul Plaza fire survivors testify before Judicial Commission

KARACHI: The Commission inquiring into deadly Gul Plaza shopping mall fire recorded statements of two surviving shopkeepers of the ill-fated shopping centre.

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.

“We saw smoke at 10:15 of the night when we were shutting our shop at the mezzanine floor,” Muhammad Junaid told the judicial commission. “I wait for some time and left Gul Plaza at 11:15 with other two boys. We get out of the premises from its bathrooms side,” Junaid said. “No way to exit out of the premises was seen owing to thick smoke,” he said.

“I fall unconscious when exit out of the building owing to the smoke,” Junaid said. “I was transferred to hospital by an Edhi ambulance,” he said.

He said no announcement made about the fire or for leaving the building. “I didn’t see any effort from the management or the rescue agencies to rescue the people trapped in the premises,” he added.

“I saw the smoke at Ground Floor at the time of closing the shop. I left the shop and immediately exit from the backside of the building,” another survivor Ali Haider said. “After getting outside, I saw the fire at mezzanine floor. I returned back to shop at 10:30, there was no fire and only smoke at ground floor,” Ali Haider said.

“After 10 minutes the fire reached to the shop, there were suitcases and easily burning items at the shop. I fell unconscious after two suitcases explode with fire,” he added. “I returned to senses seeing myself at hospital, don’t know who take me to the hospital,” he added.

“I didn’t see any fire tender or any rescue agency while exiting and coming to the shop during fire,” he said.

“All doors of Gul Plaza were closed except one or two. Until I fell unconscious, no announcement made about the fire,” Ali Haider added.

In an early hearing of the inquiry commission, Gul Plaza Association president Tanveer Pasta appeared before the commission and was summoned to the rostrum for questioning.

The commission asked about the official closing time of Gul Plaza. Tanveer Pasta told the commission that on regular days the plaza closes between 10:30pm and 10:45pm, while on Saturdays it shuts between 10:30pm and 11:00pm. When asked about officially notified timings, he said no authority had ever bound them to close strictly at a prescribed time.

Responding to questions about gate closures, he said doors begin closing from Gate No. 1 at around 10:30pm, with the entire process taking approximately 20 minutes. On Saturdays, gates start closing at 10:45pm, while the ramp is closed at around 11:30pm.

On the availability of CCTV footage, Tanveer Pasta said some DVRs were recovered from the debris after the Gul Plaza building collapsed. He added that DVRs were installed at two locations, including a security room in the basement. According to him, the CCTV system had been upgraded and around 280 cameras were installed in the building.

Pasta further told the commission that the main corridors were between six and eight feet wide, while mezzanine corridors were around ten feet wide. When asked about the number of shops under the approved plan, Tanveer Pasta stated that he had not constructed the building himself but confirmed that there were 1,153 shops, all of which were leased.