KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — 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.
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Rescue workers and firefighters work with heavy machinery to search through the rubble of a burnt building of a multistory shopping plaza following a massive fire in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammad Farooq)
Firefighters search through the rubble of a burnt building of a multistory shopping plaza following a massive fire in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Raza)
Family members of missing persons comfort each other as they wait near the site of a burnt building of a multistory shopping plaza following a massive fire in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Raza)
Family members of missing persons wait near the site of a burnt building of a multistory shopping plaza following a massive fire in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Raza)
Rescue workers and firefighters work with heavy machinery to search through the rubble of a burnt building of a multistory shopping plaza following a massive fire in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Raza)
Firefighters examine a collapsed portion of a multi-story shopping mall following a massive fire that broke out overnight, in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammad Farooq)
Firefighters try to control a massive fire that was broke out in a multi-story shopping mall in overnight, in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammad Farooq)
Raza told The Associated Press 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, Dr. Summaiya Syed, said. She said that doctors were collecting DNA samples from the relatives of the missing individuals.
According to local media, at least 26 people died in the blaze.
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. City Mayor Murtaza Wahab said the rescue operation would continue until all missing persons had been accounted for.
The fire spread quickly through shops storing cosmetics, garments and plastic goods, said Dr. Abid Jalal Sheikh, Karachi's chief rescue officer.
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. “We are praying that all those missing come out safely,” he said, as he continued trying to contact his missing family members.
Another man, Saifur Rehman, said he was inside the building when the fire broke. He said he managed to escape, but his brother Mohammad Abrar, who owns a shop in the plaza, was left behind. Rehman said he feared for his brother's safety.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Police said an investigation was underway.
Karachi, the capital of Sindh province, has a history of deadly fires, often blamed on poor safety standards and illegal construction. In November 2023, a fire at a shopping mall in the city killed 10 people and injured 22 others.
A massive fire at a garment factory in Karachi in 2012 killed 260 people.
Rescue workers and firefighters work with heavy machinery to search through the rubble of a burnt building of a multistory shopping plaza following a massive fire in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammad Farooq)
Firefighters search through the rubble of a burnt building of a multistory shopping plaza following a massive fire in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Raza)
Family members of missing persons comfort each other as they wait near the site of a burnt building of a multistory shopping plaza following a massive fire in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Raza)
Family members of missing persons wait near the site of a burnt building of a multistory shopping plaza following a massive fire in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Raza)
Rescue workers and firefighters work with heavy machinery to search through the rubble of a burnt building of a multistory shopping plaza following a massive fire in Karachi, Pakistan, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Raza)
Firefighters examine a collapsed portion of a multi-story shopping mall following a massive fire that broke out overnight, in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammad Farooq)
Firefighters try to control a massive fire that was broke out in a multi-story shopping mall in overnight, in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammad Farooq)
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — An attacker armed with a rifle was fatally shot after ramming his vehicle into one of the nation’s largest Reform synagogues Thursday in what federal investigators called an act of violence targeting the Jewish community.
Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office, called the incident “deeply disturbing and tragic” and said that the FBI is leading the investigation.
The agency considers the crime a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community,” she said at a news conference Thursday. Investigators have not determined a motive yet.
“What drove this person into action has to be determined by the investigation,” said Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard.
The vehicle caught fire after crashing into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, just outside Detroit, and driving through a hallway as security opened fire, authorities said.
None of the synagogue’s staff, teachers or the 140 children at its early childhood center were injured, Bouchard said.
“He was traveling with purpose down the hall, from my look at the video,” Bouchard said.
In the minutes after the attack, smoke billowed from the synagogue. One security officer was hit by the vehicle and knocked unconscious but did not suffer life-threatening injuries, the sheriff said. And 30 law enforcement officers were treated for smoke inhalation.
West Bloomfield Police Chief Dale Young said Temple security officers “engaged the individual and neutralized the threat.”
The suspect was found dead inside his vehicle, Bouchard said.
Bouchard credited preparation and training for the swift response to the threat, saying that he had contacted the head of security for the temple just two days before the attack.
Rabbi Arianna Gordon, from Temple Israel, thanked the security team, law enforcement and early childhood teachers for getting the children out safely and reunited with their parents, calling them the “true rock stars of the day.”
About a dozen parents sprinted to get their children soon after authorities cleared the building. Other families were reunited at a nearby Jewish Community Center.
Allison Jacobs, whose 18-month-old daughter is enrolled in Temple Israel’s day care, said she got a message from a teacher saying the children were OK even before she knew what happened.
“There are no words. I was in complete and utter shock,” she told the AP. “I was hoping that it was a false report.”
Jacobs, whose family is Jewish, said she tries not to think about all that’s going on in the world.
“You never think that this is actually going to happen to you,” she said. “But I know that it’s — it’s just terrible. This morning I was mourning the loss of the school that got hit in Iran.”
Synagogues around the world have been on edge and have been ramping up security since the U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran with missile strikes on Feb. 28.
The FBI has warned that Iranian operatives may be planning drone attacks on targets in California. Two men brought explosives to a far-right protest outside the New York mayoral mansion on Saturday. Investigators allege they were inspired by the Islamic State extremist group.
And an assailant drove a car into people outside an Orthodox synagogue in Manchester, England, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. He stabbed two people to death before officers shot and killed him.
President Donald Trump said he had been fully briefed on the attack, calling it a “terrible thing.”
Steven Ingber, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Detroit, lamented the fact that his organization had to train and prepare for an attack.
“I’d love to say that I’m shocked, that I’m surprised, but I’m not,” he said during a news conference Thursday.
He added: “This will not change us. This will not deter us and we will continue.”
Oakland County is Michigan’s second-largest county with roughly 1.3 million people. The majority of Detroit-area Jewish residents live there.
“This is heartbreaking,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement. “Michigan’s Jewish community should be able to live and practice their faith in peace.”
It was the second attack at a house of worship in Michigan within the past year. Last September, a former Marine fatally shot four people at a church north of Detroit and set it ablaze. The FBI later said he was motivated by “anti-religious beliefs” against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Temple Israel has 12,000 members, according to its website, which says the synagogue is “passionate about helping Jewish communities across the globe” and that its mission is to “create a community building through the lens of Reform Judaism.”
The Jewish Federation of Detroit briefly advised all Jewish organizations in the area to lock down.
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, a survivor of the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue massacre, said in a statement that the Michigan attack demonstrates yet again the consequences of hatred.
“We lose our humanity when we seek violent means as a solution,” said Myers, rabbi of the Tree of Life Congregation, where 11 worshippers died in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. “No one should dwell in fear because of who they are.”
This story has been corrected to show that the shooting at a church north of Detroit happened in September, not October.
Durkin Richer reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press reporters Ed White in Detroit; Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; and Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C., contributed.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard speaks to media as police respond to scene of a shooting at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich., on Thursday, March 12 2026. (Jacob Hamilton /Ann Arbor News via AP)
Law enforcement escort families with children away from the Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Police respond to scene of a shooting at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich., on Thursday, March 12 2026. (Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP)
Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
A woman gathers children as law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue on Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)
Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue on Thursday, March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)
Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue, Thursday, March 12, 2026 in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)
Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)
People gather near Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Corey Williams)
