According to a spokesman of Rescue-1122, the fire broke out about 12:00 noon which engulfed seventh and eight floors of the building within no times, trapping dozens of people.
Five of them jumped from the building for safety but they lost their lives.
Fire fighters, who were immediately called in, had to battle for 20 hours to extinguish the ablaze. Meanwhile, search operation has been launched after the completion of cooling process. Rescuers shifted 17 bodies to Mayo Hospital found on the 9th floor of the building.
DG Rescue-1122, Dr Rizwan Naseer said that over 250 firefighters took part in the search operation.
<Center><b><i>Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2013</b></i></center>