April 27, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 20, 1429

KARACHI, April 26: A boy was killed on Saturday when a small two-storey house collapsed near Sindhi Hotel in North Karachi, witnesses and police said.

Bilal Colony police said a two-and-a-half-year-old boy was buried alive under the debris after the upper portion of the 64 square-yard house (No 660) caved in at around 3:40pm.

Victim Zubair was the only son of Mohammed Akbar, a labourer, who had been living with his wife and four children in the ground portion of the house of Sadruddin for the past two years. He hailed from southern Punjab.

Rescue workers told Dawn that it took at least two hours to retrieve the fatally wounded infant from the rubble and he died on the way to hospital.

The police said the ground floor’s roof collapsed due to excessive burden as the house owner had accumulated a sizeable quantity of construction material for the renovation of his upper-storey portion.

Witnesses said a large number of area people rushed to the spot after the house collapsed with a loud bang. They said the people started removing the rubble before a city district government team and the police reached the spot.

Sub-inspector Abdul Wahab said a rescue worker was also slightly wounded when a block of concrete fell on him.

Area people said at least 13 people, mainly women and children, were present in the house at the time of the incident. They said a minor son of the landlord was also slightly wounded.