Four die as building collapses in Shah Faisal Colony

Four people, including three labourers, were killed and four others were injured as an under-construction building collapsed in Karachi’s Shah Faisal Colony on Wednesday.

The roof of the building caved in at around 10:26am when some labourers were applying cement plaster to it. On receiving the information, police and rescue services arrived at the scene and started their operation to retrieve the labourers stuck under the debris.

Heavy machinery was called in, but it faced difficulties in reaching the spot due to narrow streets in the area. A crowd also gathered near the building, adding to the difficulties in the rescue operation and forcing police and Rangers to cordon off the site. The power supply to the area was suspended to prevent any electrocution incident.

Initially, three dead and four injured persons were recovered from the rubble. They were shifted to Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre, where the deceased were identified as Abdul Ghaffar, 55, Naseer Ahmed, 30, and Kashif, 37. Later, the rescuers took out one more body. In the meantime, they spotted another body in the debris and, till the filing of this story, efforts were being made to retrieve it.

Police said the rescue operation would continue until the recovery of all the persons trapped under the collapsed building. According to injured persons, a total of eight labourers were working at the building – four were laying the plaster and four were their helpers.

Among the dead two were labourers and one was a toy seller who was pushing his cart by the building when it collapsed. The identity of the fourth was not confirmed immediately.

According to the area residents, a builder named Wazir had purchased an 80 square yards’ plot a couple of months ago. He bifurcated the land into two plots, sold one plot to another party, and started constructing a building on the remaining plot.

The builder constructed a lintel roof on the ground floor, and then added two more floors with RCC roofs. On the third floor, he made a roof with iron sheets. This way, he erected a three-storey building on the 40-square-yard land.

The building was almost completed, with plasterwork being carried out when it collapsed. The damage also affected the building that had been constructed simultaneously on the adjoining plot.

Shah Faisal Colony SHO Saqib Khan said that a total eight labourers were working in the building. He added that initially, six labourers – two killed, two injured and two slightly injured—were recovered from the wreckage, while the search for the remaining two labourers, who are feared dead, was underway. He mentioned that during the search they also found another body, which was later identified as that of a toy vendor.

The police officer said that “this is the fault of the departments who give permission to the builders for constructing such illegal buildings, and a case of negligence would also be registered against them.”