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At least five people were killed and seven others injured after a five-storey building collapsed on Friday in the Lyari area of Karachi, Dawn reported, citing hospital sources.
As per Dawn, citing police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed, the five bodies were brought to Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK); meanwhile, a list released by CHK's Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Institute of Trauma (SMBBIT) identified the injured as four men, two women, and a teenage girl. However, Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab, citing "credible reports", stated that seven people had died and eight were rescued from the rubble, as reported by Dawn. Rescue operations were ongoing at the site on Fida Hussain Shaikha Road in Lyari's Baghdadi area, with police and Pakistan Rangers assisting in the efforts. The incident follows another partial building collapse earlier this week in the Kharadar area, which fortunately caused no casualties. Authorities had previously raised alarms about structural risks. In December, the Public Accounts Committee of the Sindh Assembly urged urgent action to evacuate over 570 buildings across Karachi deemed "dangerous", the Dawn reported. Wahab said 434 of those are located in the Old City area and reiterated the government's options: either persuade or forcibly evacuate residents from unsafe buildings. "This loss of lives today shows that when the state or the government tells you anything, you should follow it," he said, as quoted by Dawn. He encouraged residents in similar structures to vacate immediately to prevent further tragedies. The deceased, according to SMBBIT records, included three men and two women: Fatima Babu, Hoor Bai, Prantic Arsi, Prem, and Waseem Babu. The injured were identified as Kishna Jumna Das, Rashid Aziz, Mujeeb Ali, Santia Chaitan, Chanda Jumma Lal, Ghulam Hussain, and Yousaf Subhan, most of whom sustained minor injuries, the Dawn reported. Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani expressed regret that the building's residents had ignored several evacuation notices, though he acknowledged the difficulty of leaving one's home. "Not one but many notices were given to them (residents) to evacuate the building. But I can also understand the citizens' struggle... On the one hand is your home in which you are residing; [but] on the other hand is your life," Ghani stated, as quoted by Dawn. Ghani also directed senior officials, including those from the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA), to reach the scene and oversee rescue operations. (ANI)
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