KARACHI, Jan 23: At least two people were killed on Wednesday when a three-storey building in Baldia Town collapsed to the ground as the town administration had nearly finished evacuating the families that had been living in the dilapidated structure.
Some half a dozen people were injured, including labourers and other people who had been living in the building in recent months. The building was situated in Arab Mohalla of Baldia Town No 3.
The APP news agency quoted Chief Controller of Buildings Rauf Akhtar Farooqui as saying that at least three persons were still trapped under the debris. He also ordered an inquiry into the house collapse.
The residents of the area said that the building had been built for residential purposes some 20 years ago and had in recent times been occupied by just a few families — most of the space had been vacant, though some labourers and other people had also been living there in recent months.
“The building also housed two shops that were rented out to a pan-seller and a motorcycle mechanic,” said Athar Rasheed Butt, SP Baldia Town. “Fortunately, there were very few people inside the building and the ground-floor shops at the time the building collapsed.”
Mr Butt confirmed the death of a labourer and said that five other people, who had been inside the building at the time of its collapse, were rescued an hour after the incident. However, the area’s residents told Dawn that they had seen at least two bodies being retrieved from the rubble. Three of the injured people were moved to a nearby hospital, and two were later taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.
‘Tremors felt in floors’
“Earlier during the day, we learned from some of the people who lived in the building that they had felt tremors and vibrations there,” said Kamran Akhtar, the nazim of Baldia Town. “Our staff visited the site and decided to have the building vacated since they too felt the floor vibrating as they walked about inside the building. The town staff had nearly completed this task when the entire building collapsed to the ground in a flash.”
According to Mr Akhtar, both the building owner and the contractor were residents of the same area and the Baldia Town administration would lodge a formal complaint against them with the police.
The matter would also be taken up with the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA), he said.
“The building was raised without expertise and substandard construction materials were used,” he commented. “We apprised the KBCA of the situation on several occasions but they did not take heed.
“A few months ago, we also warned the tenants of the building and asked them to vacate but the building owner convinced them to stay,” he added.
KARACHI, Jan 23: At least two people were killed on Wednesday when a three-storey building in Baldia Town collapsed to the ground as the town administration had nearly finished evacuating the families that had been living in the dilapidated structure.
