A total of 42 individuals who had been burnt to death in the Gul Plaza fire were identified using ante-mortem data and proof of presence, and subsequently handed over to their families.
“A total of 72 people contacted the authorities in search of their loved ones and provided references along with DNA samples. Of these, 20 remains were identified through DNA testing, while seven were identified through physical identification,” said CPLC Shinakht Project chief Amir Hassan Khan while talking to The News.
On Thursday, 12 remains were identified using ante-mortem data and proof of presence, and the remaining 30 are also being identified through the same method and being handed over to their families. With this, the total number of identified remains has reached 69.
Khan said three human remains remain in custody. Their identities have been established as Ahsanullah, Rehmatullah, and Basharat. Two of them are believed to belong to individuals from the Peshawar region, while the third remains unclear. However, the main challenge is that their families or relatives have not yet been traced. Efforts to locate them are ongoing. The fire that engulfed Gul Plaza was so intense and the response from authorities and rescue teams so delayed that many victims were burned beyond recognition. In several cases, there was no flesh left on the bodies, with only bones remaining — many of which were badly fragmented or damaged — making identification through conventional methods, including DNA testing, extremely difficult.
Due to these extraordinary circumstances, authorities, for the first time in Pakistan’s history, turned to ante-mortem data and proof of presence to identify the victims. This historic approach allowed investigators to accurately determine the identities of those who perished in the tragedy.
Officials described the identification process as a landmark achievement in the aftermath of the devastating fire, which claimed numerous lives and left many victims unrecognizable due to severe burns.
Ante-mortem data refers to information collected about a person before death, including details such as age, height, gender, medical records, previous injuries, and other physical characteristics. In cases where bodies are severely damaged, this data plays a crucial role in identification.
According to Amir Hassan Khan, Amir Hassan, head of the identification project, for the first time in Pakistan’s history, the remains of victims of the Gul Plaza tragedy were identified by reconstructing postmortem information using ante-mortem data, proof of presence at Gul Plaza, and mobile phone location data.
Among those identified were three family members from North Nazimabad who had come to Gul Plaza for shopping — Omar Nabeel, his wife Dr. Ayesha, and their son Ali. Other victims included two brothers from Site Metroville — Nematullah and Abdullah — their two cousins Yousuf Khan and Sidqatullah from Garden, shop owner Yaseen from Qasba Colony, three brothers Khizar Ali, Haider Ali, and Amir Ali, and Abu Bakr from Ranchore Line.
According to Amir Hassan Khan, ante-mortem identification involves collecting detailed information about a victim from their family prior to death. Families are asked comprehensive questions, including what the person was wearing when they left home, their height, hairstyle, footwear, wristwatch, personal belongings, and even what they had eaten. This information is recorded in a detailed three multi-page form and helps investigators match remains with victims.
In one case, a victim named Misbah was identified through a locket worn around the neck, which was confirmed using ante-mortem data provided by the family. “Another key component of the identification process is confirming the victim’s presence at the site. For this purpose, Call Detail Records (CDRs) and mobile data were analyzed to determine where a victim used the internet, their movement route, and their last known location. This helped verify whether the individual was present at Gul Plaza at the time of the fire,” Khan explained.
Additionally, some people retrieved the remains of their loved ones from specific shops within the plaza. These locations were carefully marked, noting which remains were recovered from which shop. Volunteers assisting in the recovery process also documented where remains were collected. This information was then cross-verified using CCTV footage, videos, CDR data, and witness statements.
He said that only after completing this entire verification process were the remains formally identified and handed over to families. Alongside ante-mortem data and digital verification, forensic anthropology was also used, allowing experts to analyze bones for identification. It was only after completing all these steps that accurate identification became possible in such an extreme case.
Investigators said the process required combining family-provided information, digital evidence, eyewitness accounts, and forensic analysis to reconstruct each victim’s identity in the absence of intact bodies.
