Four of a family killed in roof collapse on Multan Road

LAHORE

Four members of a family including two children were killed while six others received injuries when roof of a single room house collapsed in Gosha Ahbab, Azam Garden, on Multan Road on Tuesday.

Police handed over the bodies to the victims’ family after completing legal formalities and shifted the injured to hospital.

The deceased were identified as Shama Bibi 60, Manzoor Bibi 22, Bilal 01 and Hajra o1. Bilal and Hajra were twins. The injured were identified as Ahmed, 2, Mariyam, 3, Zainab, 3, Ghulam Fatima, 7, Shabnum, 30, and Hafeezan, 35.

Riaz, a member of the family, said that he and his brother Hasnain had been living in the house for the 15 years.

On the day of the incident, Shabnum, his sister-in-law, had come from Pakpattan, the family’s hometown, to see her sister.

Her mother Manzoor Bibi, his wife Shama Bibi 22, wife of his brother Hafeeza Bibi along with their children had gathered at the house and having gossip with the guest. Suddenly, the rain started. When the rain stopped after sometimes, the roof collapsed.

The victims got trapped under the debris inside the room. Qasim, a neighbour of the victims and an eye-witness, said he was standing under shed of his house and enjoying rain when he heard the loud sound of roof collapse and heavy screams of the victims. He rushed to the place. Meanwhile, other neighbours had also gathered there.

They immediately started rescue work and informed Rescue teams. He said they had evacuated all the victims when the rescue teams reached the spot except one-year-old Bilal. Rescue teams shifted the victims to Lahore General Hospital for treatment.

A rescue official said the roof was in a dilapidated condition. He said the roof was made of mud. The roof became very heavy due to rain and the foundations could not support it. Resultantly, the roof caved in.

He pointed out that the house was constructed at a shallow place; it was a makeshift house built for temporary residence.

The victim families had a humble economic background. Riaz, father of the deceased twins, worked as a cart runner. He said he was at work when a neighbour informed him about the sad news.

‘The news fell like a bombshell on me. I ran immediately to my house to see my dear ones’, expressed Riaz his sorrow while crying.

Sadness prevailed in the locality as the victim family had placed bodies of deceased in front of the collapsed house. A large number of relatives and people had gathered there. 

BODY FOUND: A 50-year-old unidentified man was found dead in the Data Darbar police limits.

Police removed the body to morgue for autopsy. A passerby informed the police about a man lying unconscious. Police reached the spot and shifted the man to a nearby hospital where the doctors pronounced him as brought dead.