President approves bravery medal for Gul Plaza firefighter Furqan

President Asif Ali Zardari has approved the Tamgha-e-Shujaat for Furqan Ali, the Karachi firefighter who died in the Gul Plaza fire in January while trying to reach people trapped inside the building.

ProPakistani and ARY News both reported on Sunday that the approval followed efforts by Karachi Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab to secure national recognition for the firefighter. Both outlets described the medal as the country's civil award for bravery.

Furqan, 36, was posted at the Nazimabad Fire Station and had served in the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation's fire department since 2018, ProPakistani reported. He was recruited on the deceased quota after his father, also a firefighter, died in service. He married about a year and a half ago and had a child.

The fire broke out at Gul Plaza on M.A. Jinnah Road on the night of January 17, 2026, and burned for about 36 hours before it was brought under control on the morning of January 19, according to both outlets. Furqan was part of the crew fighting the blaze. He fell into the wreckage during the operation and was trapped under the debris, where he died.

ProPakistani reported that the final investigation report put the death toll at 79 and described the fire as one of the deadliest in the city's history. It also reported that the fire led Punjab to issue new fire safety rules for commercial buildings. ARY News's report carried neither the death toll nor the Punjab rules.

Mayor Wahab has said the Nazimabad Fire Station will be renamed after Furqan. He announced Rs 10 million in financial assistance for the family and said Furqan's benefits and entitlements would continue to be paid, ProPakistani reported.

ARY News described the award as a tribute to what it called the firefighter's selflessness, professional commitment and supreme sacrifice. Neither report said when the medal would be conferred or who would receive it on his behalf.