July 07, 2008	Monday	Rajab 3, 1429

KARACHI, July 6: At least nine people were killed and more than a dozen others injured when a three-storey building collapsed in Karachi on Sunday, police said.

Police said several families were residing in the building located in the heavily populated Baldia area of Karachi.

“The building caved in early in the morning when most of the occupants were sleeping. We have recovered 14 people with minor injuries while two are still trapped in the debris,” local police official Athar Rasheed Butt said.

He said two children and a 70-year-old woman were among the dead.

The officer said a preliminary investigation had revealed that the two-year-old building may have collapsed due to shoddy construction.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani expressed grief and sorrow over the loss of lives in the building collapse and ordered an inquiry into the incident.

He also directed the PPP workers to visit the injured people and look after their welfare.—Agencies