Death toll rises in Pakistan shopping centre fire

Firefighters in Karachi have begun searching for more than ?60 missing people after a massive fire destroyed a shopping mall in Pakistan's most populous city, while ?the death toll from the disaster rose to 11.

The fire started late on Saturday, local time, at the ?sprawling, multi-storey Gul Plaza shopping centre in the city's business district and burned for more than a day, hampering rescue efforts in the densely packed area.

After more than 24 hours of firefighting, crews moved to cooling and debris-clearing, although concerns grew that more victims could still be ?trapped inside.

Police ?surgeon Summaiya Syed told Reuters the death toll had risen to 11, ?while Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab said on Sunday more than 60 people were still missing.

Firefighters said the lack of ventilation in the building, which housed more than 1200 shops, caused thick smoke to fill the centre and slowed efforts to reach people trapped inside.

"It appears to have been ?caused by a circuit breaker," Sindh province police ?chief Javed Alam Odho told reporters at the site on Sunday, adding that the layout of the market and ?the presence of flammable materials such as carpets and blankets caused parts of the fire to ?continue smouldering.

By Sunday evening, large sections of the building had collapsed, leaving twisted metal and debris strewn across the street, along with fallen air-conditioning units and shop signboards.

Rescue ?workers ?warned the remaining structure was unstable ?and could collapse further.

According to rescue services, ?authorities received the first emergency call at 10.38pm local time on Saturday, reporting that ground-floor shops were on fire.

By the time firefighters arrived, the flames had already spread to the upper floors, engulfing much of the building.

Shopkeepers and residents told local media that a delayed response and shortages of water and equipment had hampered early firefighting efforts, fuelling anger among traders who said decades of livelihoods had ?been wiped out.