April 7, 2003	Monday	Safar 4, 1424

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RAWALPINDI, April 6: The search for a sales boy, who is presumed to be still under the debris of the collapsed building in Commercial Market, resumed on Sunday morning after suspension of the rescue work for over eight hours.

Earlier, the rescue work was suspended on Saturday night after the armymen left the site at about 11:30pm following a meeting in which it was decided that the remaining relief work would be carried out by the district and Tehsil administrations.

The administrations, with the help of some volunteers, resumed the rescue work at 7am on Sunday

Imran Hayat, the Nazim of the Satellite Town union council, said they were searching for an 18-year-old sales boy Omar Daraz, who was on the first floor of the shop when it collapsed on Friday evening. He said another injured salesman Ali Raza, who was with Omar at the time of the incident, had identified the location where both of them were present when the four-storey building collapsed.

He said that Omar had recently passed the matric examination and was doing job at Bano Arcade to support his family.

Meanwhile, eye-witnesses said the parents of Omar Daraz requested the authorities not to suspend the work on Saturday night, but no one listened to them. Omar’s father was very desperate when the rescue operation was suspended following a meeting of the “high-ups,” they said. Salim, a cousin of Omar, while talking to Dawn at the site, said Omar’s father Abdullah Malik was a manager at a CNG station in Jhelum.

The Nazim said some volunteers had agreed to dig their way beneath the debris to search the boy and the district administration had arranged oxygen cylinders for them. He said at one stage, the administration even considered to acquire services of some miners from Chakwal in the rescue work.

About the number of trapped persons under the debris, the Nazim said according to the building owner, there were 33 persons, including 20 labourers and nine salesmen, inside the shop at the time of the incident. He said all these persons had been accounted for.

The Nazim expressed the hope that they would find Omar alive.

When asked about the Army’s role in the relief activity, he said they were actually for the emergency relief work only. He said Capt Bilal and Col Butt, the director of the Frontier Works Organization (FWO), were at the site all the time on Sunday, assisting the administration in rescue work. He said the administration had acquired latest equipment from the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the FWO for the purpose.

On the other hand, eye-witnesses said they were surprised to see the army officials and district administration people leaving the site on Saturday night at about 11.30pm despite knowing that a boy was still trapped under the debris. “This is criminal negligence on part of the government”, said Tariq, who lives in a rented room in Commercial Market. He said a case should be registered against the official who had ordered to stop the rescue work.

Jahangir, a shopkeeper, criticized the administration for failing to remove debris of the building even after 48 hours despite having heavy machinery and other required equipment.

An official of the district administration said rescue work was stopped on Saturday night to avoid over-heating of machines that had been in use for consecutive 30 hours. He said a meeting was held after suspension of the work, and army handed over the responsibility of the rescue work to the district administration.

A large number of people gathered at the site were seen praying for the life of young Omar.

The search for the missing salesman was continuing till filing of this report.