Pakistani police said on the 19th that a shopping center in Karachi, the capital of Sindh province in the south, caught fire on the night of the 17th. The death toll has now risen to 14. Karachi's fire department confirmed that about 60 people are still missing. The fire has been extinguished and search and rescue operations are underway.
The shopping center that caught fire is a multi-story building with more than 1,200 shops inside.
Firefighters said the shopping center had poor ventilation, causing thick smoke to fill the building and hampering rescue efforts.
Sindh Province Police Chief Odho said, "It seems that the fire was caused by (an electrical) circuit breaker."
"The design and construction of this market, coupled with the type of goods sold here such as carpets, blankets, and other resin-containing products, kept the fire smoldering until now due to these items."
Hundreds of people gathered around the building, including distraught shop owners whose businesses were reduced to ashes in the fire.
Shop owner Bano said: "We are in trouble, everything we had is gone overnight, 20 years of hard work turned to nothing."