Karachi fire toll put at 259; murder case against managers

Until now only 177 of the dead bodies had been identified, including 23 women, and efforts are on to identify the other dead.

Sindh's health minister, Sagheer Ahmed, told the media that since the fire broke out and gutted the factory a total of 259 dead bodies had been recovered. The people had either died from suffocation, burns or because they tried to jump from windows to save their lives.

"We have managed to identify 177 bodies but for the remaining bodies we are taking DNA samples from anxious families and relatives whose loved ones or friends were working in the factory.

"Doctors are trying to match the DNA samples with the unidentified bodies to determine their identities,