‘What’s being done for the future?’: Yasir Hussain asks what will change after deadly fire at Karachi’s Gul Plaza
Karachi is still in a state of shock after a weekend blaze at the iconic — but poorly equipped — Gul Plaza killed 29 people. As a search operation for missing people continued, actor Yasir Hussain raised a very important question about fire safety in the City of Lights.
In an Instagram story posted on Wednesday, the actor said he was saddened by the loss, then asked what steps were being taken to prevent such a tragedy in another one of Karachi’s many shopping plazas and smaller malls.
He mentioned all the reasons being cited for the losses — there were too many floors, too many shops, a lot of the stored inventory was made of plastic, they didn’t have the tools to fight the fire, the surrounding roads were dug up for construction and the city’s fire brigade is under-equipped. He said the same was the case with many other similar buildings.
“If, God forbid, something like this happens there, what steps are being taken for that situation, what’s being done for the future, what are [the authorities] planning?” he asked.
Karachi has had a troubled history with fires, where the local fire brigade was unable to control another blaze at the port just a day before the Gul Plaza tragedy — fortunately, there were no casualties, but the navy had to assist with firefighting efforts. Two major fires in the first 20 days of the year isn’t surprising when looking at the tragically long list of such incidents in the last three years.
While an audit of fire safety measures has been ordered in Punjab, Karachi has only seen promises of support and compensation for victims so far.
With the city suffering from a toxic mix of crumbling infrastructure, weak enforcement of safety regulations and widespread negligence, it remains to be seen what lessons will be learnt from the Gul Plaza fire, if any.











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