Zhigang Khatun in which his wife and son lay dead with their four-month-old baby in her arms following the fire. The son, aged one month, and his wife died in the fire on November 30.

A year earlier, on the outskirts of the city of Kota Tindoji, the fire engulfed another apartment where nine men – seven of whom had fled as locals started to return from vacation – and three children were found dead in a collapsed flat.

The survivors’ death toll has also been raised to 22. Twenty-three people were rescued and three others were still unaccounted for, official spokesman Naeem Fazalullah said.

Seven men remained unaccounted for following Friday’s fire in Kota Tindongo which killed at least eight people and injured 23. There were 10 fire fighters, and the district was placed on lockdown following the blaze.

Meanwhile, the Kota Tindongo police have arrested the alleged mastermind of the attack on the Kota Tindongo hotel. They said Mohammad Shafiq, a resident of Malakandam district, has been detained by them during a raid as he had allegedly planned the attack.

This is the first time that a fire at a hotel building killing a high number of people – and then the discovery of the charred bodies of dozens of their families.

A day after the murder of the hotel’s staff that followed it, police said they found the dead bodies of 20 people in the wreckage on Friday.

They were from the Kota Tindongo area.