KARACHI, Sept 1: Six people were killed and some others were feared dead when a part of a key bridge of the Northern Bypass collapsed on Saturday afternoon, police and rescue workers said.
Two trailers, one with a container and the other with a cement tank, were on the Shershah bridge at around 1.20pm when the 70-metre Baldia loop of the structure buckled.
The city police chief, Azhar Farooqui, said that four bodies had been removed from the place of incident. “The number of casualties may rise as some people are still trapped under the broken section of the bridge,” he added.
The driver and cleaner of the other trailer are believed to be dead. Civil Hospital sources said two bodies and parts of a mutilated body were brought to the mortuary.
Two cars, a donkey cart, a police van and some people were buried under the mangled mass of concrete, lending credence to reports the casualty figures will rise.
Area people said a minibus, a passenger coach and many pedestrians were trapped under the debris of the bridge, whose collapse created such a loud bang that the residents of nearby localities felt a massive earthquake had pummelled the city.
Chief Fire Officer Mohammed Ehtisham told Dawn that a rescue operation was under way in an extremely dangerous condition. “We have dug a tunnel down one of the trapped car, with its driver dead inside, as it is impossible to lift that huge concrete mass.”
He said the possibility of rescuing victims from under the debris was dim. “Everything has been smashed and flattened and there is no chance of any survivor making it alive.”
Rescue volunteers said the broken piece of the bridge sank four to five feet into the ground. They said the sliding of the broken piece had made their job more perilous.
KARACHI, Sept 1: Six people were killed and some others were feared dead when a part of a key bridge of the Northern Bypass collapsed on Saturday afternoon, police and rescue workers said.
