Suffocation main cause of death in Gul Plaza fire, says Police Surgeon

KARACHI: Inhalational asphyxia, or suffocation due to smoke inhalation, was identified as the primary cause of death in the devastating Gul Plaza fire that claimed at least 73 lives, according to Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed.

The blaze, which broke out on the night of January 17, engulfed the commercial building and took nearly two days to extinguish, destroying over 1,100 shops. Even after 10 days of search operations, eight individuals remained missing.

In her response to a judicial commission probing the incident, Dr Syed stated that inhalational asphyxia was the predominant cause of death. “Inhalational asphyxia was established as the primary medical cause of death in the six complete bodies,” she noted.

She added that in 66 other cases — where only fragmentary and completely burnt remains were recovered — suffocation was also determined as the likely cause, though polytrauma could not be ruled out due to the severe condition of the remains.

According to her findings, authorities received six bodies on January 18, followed by multiple batches of fragmentary remains over the next several days, indicating the scale and intensity of the fire.

Dr Syed refrained from commenting on whether delays in evacuation or rescue contributed to the high death toll, stating that only eight injured individuals were brought in alive.

Toxicology reports for samples taken from seven victims are still awaited, while post-mortems were not conducted on the six intact bodies. However, medicolegal documentation for the remains has been completed and submitted.

The judicial commission has heard testimonies from several stakeholders, including officials from the Sindh Building Control Authority and the chief fire officer.

While fire authorities have blamed the building’s management for failing to implement safety measures, Gul Plaza Management Committee President Tanveer Pasta alleged that rescue services arrived late and did not attempt timely evacuation, raising further questions about the response to one of Karachi’s deadliest fire tragedies.