KARACHI, Jan. 24 -- Police have registered a first information report (FIR) over the devastating Gul Plaza fire, describing the tragedy as an "outcome of negligence and carelessness." The blaze, which broke out on the night of January 17, engulfed the ground-plus-three-storey shopping plaza and took nearly two days to be fully extinguished, leaving 71 people dead and sections of the building collapsed.

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According to the FIR, the fire started in shop number 193, a flower and gift shop on the ground floor, and quickly spread throughout the plaza. Police cited lack of firefighting equipment, no emergency exits, and absence of reasonable arrangements as major fac...