LAHORE, Aug 17: Five members of a family were buried alive and another two sustained injuries when a dilapidated building collapsed inside Bhati Gate in the walled city following heavy rain on Tuesday.
The three-storey building was owned by Saeed Ahmad and its top floor rented out to Muhammad Munir, a 50-year-old vendor, whose eight-member family had long been residing there, police said.
Those killed included the family head and his four children, Sohail Ahmad (21), Ali Hasan (12), Taranum Naz alias Gurya and eight-year-old Chandni. His wife Mehmooda Begum (43) and son Javed (19) sustained injuries and were taken to the Mayo Hospital, where their condition was stated to be critical. Another son, Muhammad Ali (10), remained unharmed as he was bathing in the rain on the roof of an adjacent house when the incident took place, added the police.
Residents told reporters that the top floor of the building caved in around 11:30am. The rubble fell on the lower portion of the house, which too collapsed, they said. Except for the 10-year-old boy, all the family members got trapped in the debris.
The police were contacted by neighbours at emergency numbers, but they reached the scene over an hour late when the area people had already launched the rescue operation. More civic agencies, including the fire brigade, the bomb disposal squad and city district government units reached the scene and joined the operation.
Lahore Nazim Mian Amer Mehmood also rushed to the place and supervised the rescue work. "This house was included in the 706 buildings declared dangerous by the city government," he said while talking to reporters. Evacuation notice had been issued to the owners and occupants of these building, but to no avail, he added.
The bodies of Sohail, Ali Hasan and Chandni were the first to be recovered from the rubble. The other two bodies were retrieved after three hours, said the police. No case has so far been registered in this regard.
NAZIM'S ORDER: Condoling the death of five members of a family in the collapse of a dilapidated house in Chomala Mohalla in the Walled City, District Nazim Mian Amer Mahmood on Tuesday called upon occupants of 'dangerous' buildings to vacate the same to avoid loss of life and property.
Talking to newsmen while supervising the operation for removal of debris at Padan Galli of Chomala Mohalla along with Ravi Town Nazim Amer Munir, the district Nazim said that notice had been issued to the owner and occupants of the house but they stayed there till its collapse on Tuesday morning.
Mian Amer said there were 50 'extremely dangerous', 350 'dangerous' and 700 dilapidated buildings in the provincial metropolis, mostly in the Walled City. The CDG and towns had issued notices to the owners and occupants, who often ignored the warnings and suffered as a result.
