At least nine people were killed and several injured this morning in a fire at a shopping center in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi.
The fire broke out in a six-story building with several hundred shops on Rashid Minhas Street, one of the most frequented streets in the center of Karachi.
The shopping center was not open at the time of the fire, but there were people there, mostly employees.
“Karachi Fire Department has confirmed nine deaths so far,” Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui said, adding that the search and rescue operation was continuing.
The Rescue and Emergency Service said more than 20 people were rescued from the fire and taken to hospital.