The death toll in a fire that engulfed a shopping centre in Pakistan has climbed to 67, police have confirmed.
Authorities report that 77 people are currently listed as missing by their families following the blaze at Gul Plaza, located in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, on Saturday evening.
The scale of damage following the fire, which took more than 24 hours to extinguish, has hampered rescue efforts as officials sift through the remains of the 6,500 square meter complex.
While some of the bodies recovered are only partial remains, authorities have managed to identify 67 skulls thus far, with 15 individuals confirmed identified.
Gul Plaza housed around 1,200 shops across multiple floors and was particularly busy as the wedding season in Karachi typically draws large crowds.
Although the cause of the fire remains unknown, witness accounts indicate that locked exits and the dense crowd exacerbated the disaster.
Shop owner Rehan Faisal described how the situation unfolded, asserting that it took about five to seven minutes for everything to ignite. Witnesses claim that most of the exits were locked, with only three of the mall's 16 gates accessible.
This tragedy has raised serious questions about safety protocols in densely populated public spaces, particularly in commercial settings.
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