Pakistan, Jan. 20 -- Karachi's Gul Plaza blaze has become an unthinkable tragedy: more than 21 dead, scores still missing, hundreds of livelihoods erased, as the gutted walls of a decades-old commercial block stand as sombre testimony to deeper failings. The fire started late Saturday night and blazed for more than 24 hours in a complex of roughly 1,200 shops, trapping people as smoke and heat overwhelmed interior spaces. Rescue workers have warned that unstable structures and debris continue to hinder search efforts as families wait for news of loved ones.

In the upper house of Parliament, Senator Sherry Rehman urged colleagues not to "politicise" the fire, urging colleagues to treat it as a collective lesson, asking that no fingers be ...