11 killed as building collapses in Karachi
karachi — At least 11 people were killed and 32 others wounded when a five-storey residential complex collapsed in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi on Thursday, leaving additional victims trapped in the rubble.
The building had initially been constructed as a four-storey complex, but another floor was added about a year ago, in violation of construction rules, officials said.
“The dead included seven women and three children,” Qarar Abbasi, police surgeon at the government-run Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, said.
Two houses adjoining the building also collapsed.
Sama Kausar, a senior health official, confirmed the death toll and said that several people were trapped inside the rubble, with rescuers struggling to reach them.
A building inspector said the sewage system appeared to have triggered the collapse, but a full technical enquiry would be conducted.
“The lists of all those injured and dead in the building collapse have also been placed outside the the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC),” The Express
Tribune quoted a medical officer as saying. There is no shortage of the medicine, she added.
Police and Sindh Rangers personnel also reached the site to assist in the rescue efforts.
A contingent of engineers from the Pakistan Army later joined the rescue efforts. Initial reports suggested the building was constructed two years ago.
Taking notice of the incident, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah directed Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Ali Shallwani to ensure people were safely recovered from the rubble. The chief minister also sought a detailed report, questioning whether the building was legally constructed.
Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar, while taking notice of the incident, ordered that the injured should be provided the best possible medical care.
Sindh Governor Imran Ismail asked the commissioner of Karachi and the Sindh Building Control Authority to compile detailed reports about the incident.
In January, the city administration directed the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) to initiate a process to get vacated residential buildings declared ‘dangerous’.
The majority of buildings identified as dangerous are located in the Saddar area, where 295 residential buildings have been declared dangerous. —