Shopping plaza inferno case registered

FIR invokes charges of culpable homicide, criminal negligence

KARACHI:

The first information report (FIR) of the horrific fire at RJ Shopping Mall on Rashid Minhas Road has been registered at Sharae Faisal police station invoking serious charges, including culpable homicide and criminal negligence causing damage.

The builders of the shopping mall, those who approved the building map, the institution responsible for issuing an NOC despite defective material, the shopping mall management, and fire brigade, have been nominated in the FIR.

The FIR has been registered on the complaint of police Sub Inspector Sadaruddin Mirani under Sections 322, 436, 427, 288 and 34/285.

The FIR states that a fire broke out in RJ Shopping Mall at 5am, which engulfed the entire building. People trapped inside rushed to the stairs and elevator to save their lives. Several people sustained burn injuries due to the fire's heat. They were transported to hospitals. Many of those with severe injuries died during treatment.

"The building of the shopping mall had no fire extinguishers and no emergency exit," states the FIR. "It is strongly suspected that the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit."

Preliminary investigation reveals that the building map had been approved without the firefighting clearance. The building had been constructed with the collusion of officers of civic agencies in violation of building laws and subpar materials had been used in the structure that caused so many casualties.

Committee launches probe

A special investigation committee, headed by DIG East Ghulam Azfar Mahiser and also including an associate professor of architecture from NED University, visited the badly gutted plaza on Sunday.

DIG Mahiser said that the current focus of their probe is on whether the building was constructed after a formal approval from the competent authority or, if there were any violation post-approval.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2023.