The death toll from the Gul Plaza shopping mall fire in Pakistan's southern port city Karachi has risen to 67, officials said Thursday, after post-mortem examinations of all victims were completed.
The blaze erupted late Saturday night at Gul Plaza, a multi-story shopping mall located on MA Jinnah Road, which houses over 1,200 shops. It was brought under control after more than 24 hours of firefighting on Sunday.
At Civil Hospital Karachi, DNA testing continues as authorities attempt to identify bodies burned beyond recognition.
Summaiya Syed Tariq, chief police surgeon at the Health Department of the Government of Sindh, said that on the fifth day since the incident, a total of 67 remains had been processed. Of these, six were identified through facial recognition, one through ID card or partial facial identification and eight via DNA testing.
"All we have received are remains, and these are bodily remains, bony remains. So, obviously, we have moved towards DNA identification and anthropological identification. By using DNA technique, we have identified eight of the individuals," she said.
Authorities continue to investigate the cause of the fire, which broke out last week and quickly swept through the multi-story complex. Efforts are ongoing to trace any missing person.
Officials said the investigation will review all aspects of the incident, including compliance with fire safety regulations and building management practices.
Death toll from Karachi shopping mall fire rises to 67
Li Li, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) from southwest China's Guizhou Province, has made it her mission to preserve and promote the rich cultural heritage of the Buyi people, particularly their traditional clothing.
Born and raised in a village of Qinglong County, Qianxinan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Li began learning the intricate handicrafts of the Buyi people from her mother at a young age.
After spending over a decade working away from home, she felt a strong calling to return and safeguard her cultural roots. In 2015, she returned to her roots to start a business with the vision to revitalize Buyi clothing.
"Starting my own business was really tough in the beginning. If you want to make a Western-style suit, you could just buy some fabric and copy an existing design. But ethnic clothing is different. It requires constant innovation, and that takes a huge amount of time. Traditional fabrics tend to fade, and I spent months just trying to figure out how to fix the color. This problem had kept me up for a long time. But eventually, I tackled the challenges one by one," Li said.
Her persistence has paid off. This year, Li's team tapped into the cultural symbolism of the Year of the Horse, creating a range of horse-themed products that have quickly gained popularity.
"This year is the Year of the Horse, so we created a lot of horse-themed items. They are very popular and orders have been pouring in. Every year, we design our cultural products and clothing based on what the market wants. We started with a 300-square-meter workshop, and now we have our own intangible cultural heritage center. Over the years, we've trained more than a thousand embroiderers," she said.
As a grassroots NPC deputy, Li prioritizes listening to the voices of ordinary people. During work sessions with embroiderers, she takes time to listen to their concerns and offers flexible schedules for those with special needs.
The preservation of ethnic clothing and culture has always been at the heart of her work.
"During this year's 'two sessions', I will continue to focus on the preservation of ethnic clothing and culture. I want to encourage more young people to get involved in cultural inheritance. For example, I've been going to schools to teach students because I hope that intangible cultural heritage can take root in children's hearts from an early age. I want them to grow up knowing how remarkable our ethnic culture is and to develop a strong sense of cultural pride," Li said.
The "two sessions" refer to the annual meetings of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Conference, China's top political advisory body,which usually convene in early March.
NPC deputy from Guizhou revitalizes Buyi culture through inheritance and innovation
