Dozens Feared Dead in Pakistan Mall Fire

The death toll from a massive fire at a shopping plaza in Karachi rose to 23 on Monday as rescuers recovered more bodies from the badly damaged building, police said. Dozens remain missing. Firefighters extinguished the blaze at the multistory plaza late Sunday, nearly 24 hours after it erupted, allowing rescue teams to enter the building. Authorities fear the death toll will rise as they look for 46 more people, according to city police chief Asad Raza. He told the AP on Monday that only six bodies have been identified so far. The rest will need DNA testing as the "bodies were beyond recognition," police surgeon Summaiya Syed said.

• Earlier, Sindh provincial Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah told a news conference in Karachi that rescue teams were searching for survivors and the dead. He said those killed in the fire included a firefighter and that the government would provide 10 million rupees ($36,000) in compensation to the family of each person killed.
• As night fell, rescuers continued to struggle to reach parts of the severely damaged building where some people were believed to be trapped after losing contact with their families the previous day.
• The fire spread quickly through more than 1,000 shops storing cosmetics, garments and plastic goods, said Dr. Abid Jalal Sheikh, Karachi's chief rescue officer. The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Police said an investigation was underway.

• Some of the relatives of the missing waited outside the burned-out plaza Monday, hoping for news. Qaiser Ali said his wife, daughter-in-law, and sister went shopping for an upcoming wedding event on Saturday and were inside the building when the fire broke out. He said he had spoken to all three by mobile phone on Sunday, but then they went silent. "I don't know what has happened to them or whether they are alive," Ali told the AP.
• Gul Plaza was almost completely destroyed by the time the fire was under control, the New York Times reports. Angry relatives of the missing slammed emergency services for their slow response. "If the fire engines had arrived on time, with proper ladders, this could have been contained," Mujtaba Ali said. "They were calling us from inside, saying the stairways were locked. What chance did they have?"
• The Times notes that experts say "fire safety laws exist mostly on paper" in the city of more than 20 million people. Officials say illegal building extensions have caused clogged streets, which made it difficult for fire engines to reach the scene on Sunday.