KARACHI, Aug 11: Collapsing structures have killed a further eight people, seven of them from the same family, raising the death toll of the recent heavy rains to 29. A carpenter, his wife and five of their children were killed when their Korangi house collapsed in the heavy rain early Saturday morning. In a separate incident, an 18-year-old youth was killed when the wall of his house collapsed during the downpour.

The bodies were taken to the Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Complex where the victims of the tragedy were identified as 55-year-old carpenter Mohammed Yaseen, his wife Rafiqan Bibi, their daughter Mehvish (17) and sons Irfan (13), Shahzad (11), Shahbaz (9) and Arsalan (5). The family had been living in a rented portion of a house in Street No. 10 of Abdullah Shah Colony, Korangi No. 1 ½.

According to the victims’ neighbour Yamin, who initiated efforts to rescue the trapped people, the carpenter had re-rented the portion only two months ago after having lived there for four months. Yamin told Dawn that he heard a loud crash at 1.55am and rushed out of his house “to find the victims buried under the rubble of their collapsed house.”

With the aid of three of his brothers and five other men, Yamin started the rescue operation. “Only two of Yaseen’s children, seven-year-old Sehrish and 15-year-old Riaz, nicknamed Raja, were still alive,” he said. “We pulled them out of the debris and shifted them to hospital.” Sehrish is said to be in a stable condition while her brother is being operated upon in Chiniot Hospital, Korangi.

Edhi spokesperson Anver Kazmi stated that the bodies were being kept at the Edhi morgue and would be handed over to the victims’ heirs on Sunday for the funeral.

According to residents of the area, the carpenter’s eldest son was in Dubai and was scheduled to reach Karachi late Saturday night.

The area’s residents told Dawn that the collapsed house is owned by Mohammed Rafique who lives in a portion on the upper storey. Reportedly, he is in the Punjab at the moment but his family and other tenants were in the house when Yaseen’s portion collapsed. Meanwhile, 18-year-old Abdul Ghani Soomro, originally from Larkana, was killed when the wall of his house in the same locality collapsed. Residents said that the victim’s family took the body to their hometown in the small hours of the morning.

Residents informed Dawn that at least 10 houses collapsed in Gilgit Colony and New Noorani Colony in Korangi No. 1 ½, almost at the same time as when Yaseen’s house collapsed. Shah Hussain, a resident of Gilgit Colony, added that several walls collapsed in his locality but no one was injured in the incidents.

“It started happening after a series of rolls of thunder,” he said.