Islamabad, Jan 23 : Only one out of more than 160 high rise buildings in Rawalpindi district of Pakistan's Punjab province meets the criteria of fire safety regulations set by the government, local media has reported.

After the fire incident in Karachi's Gul Plaza mall which has so far claimed 71 lives, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz ordered a survey and installation of fire hydrants in high rise buildings. All sensitive areas have been marked, re-analysed and relevant authorities have been directed to follow fire safety provisions, Pakistan's leading daily Dawn reported.

The only high rise building alongside the mall fulfils the key fire safety criteria set by the authorities like presence of fire hydrants, the emergency exits in case of fire incidents. Apart from this, the building is equipped with fire alarms and detection and sprinkling system and has its own team who can carry out evacuation within a minute following an emergency call, the newspaper reported.

While speaking to Dawn, District Emergency Officer (DEO) Rescue 1122 Rawalpindi Sibghat Ullah stated that Rawalpindi station has 19 fire vehicles and over 300 fire fighters who are trained and equipped to handle any event.

He said buildings as per safety regulations should have exit stairs, external fire hydrants, encroachment free, fire extinguishers, free detection and alarm system, internal Hydrant and Sprinklers system and conducting fire drills. He stated that 127 buildings which did not meet fire safety criteria set by the government had been issued the first notice to fulfil the fire safety regulations.

Among the 127 buildings which fulfilled safety measures, the remaining 82 buildings were issued second notice. Later, the remaining 16 were issued third notice to follow fire safety requirements according to the category. He further mentioned that only two buildings were issued final and third notice. He stated that a recommendation is made to the relevant department to seal those buildings after the third notice is ignored, Dawn reported.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the Gul Plaza fire incident in Karachi has risen to 71 as rescue teams continued to find bodies during search operations, with authorities expecting the operation to be completed by late Friday, The Express Tribune reported.

In-charge of the identification desk at the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), Amir Hassan, told the daily that four bags comprising human remains were brought to the hospital overnight. He said, "These remains could belong to four individuals," adding that the death toll has potentially risen to 71.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner South, Javed Nabi Khoso, stated that the 77 people remain missing and the search operation is in its final stage and that the work of searching through rubble will be completed by Friday night.

The rescue operation in shopping mall continued for the seventh day on Friday. The largest fire in Karachi in more than 10 years erupted on January 17 and quickly spread through the Gul Plaza shopping complex.

/IANS