KARACHI, Sept 11: Four children, aged between five and nine years, were killed on Thursday when a wall of their old school building collapsed on Manora Island, witnesses said.

They said four students of the F.G. Public School, three of them sons of as many brothers and the fourth one also their cousin, were having snacks during a recess under the shade of the wall of the dilapidated building when the wall collapsed with a big bang at around 11am, killing the little ones instantly.

The residents said the old building of the school had been vacated some six years ago and the school was shifted to the new building constructed around 50 yards away. They said the cantonment authorities were time and again approached for the demolition of the dilapidated building, but they paid no heed to their requests.

Sami Khan, a six-year-old student of the F.G. Public School, told Dawn that he was sitting very close to the wall that collapsed. “It was extremely hot today and everybody like Arbab and his cousins was looking for a shady place,” he said and added that the wall collapsed in the twinkling of an eye with a big bang, giving the victims no chance to run to safety.

Five-year-old Abid Ali, who also witnessed the heart-wrenching incident, said he was sitting yards away from the wall. “I heard a deafening sound and then saw blocks and rubble where some children were having snacks a moment ago,” he added.

The witnesses said that a large number of the residents of the 2.5-square-kilometre peninsula thronged the spot and retrieved the bodies of nine-year-old Arbab, son of Mohammed Shoaib, six-year-old Adnan, son of Nisar Ahmed, six-year-old Taimur, son of Zafar Ali, and five-year-old Fardeen Khan, son of Rahim.

Abdul Aleem, one of the residents who reached the spot to retrieve the bodies, told Dawn that the heads of the children had been smashed under the rubble.

The bodies were taken to a nearby naval hospital before they were handed over to the victims’ families.

The victim Arbab’s father, Mohammed Shoaib, a worker at the KPT’s engineering department, said Adnan and Taimur were the sons of his younger brothers, and Fardeen was his daughter’s son. “I rushed to the spot and learned that the bodies had been shifted to the hospital,” he said in a voice choking with grief.

“They did not let me see the children at hospital until I protested. The children’s heads were smashed and their faces disfigured,” he said.

“Arbab did not want to go to school today as he wanted to play a new video game that I had bought him only yesterday,” the grieving father said with tears rolling down his cheeks.

He said the boy went to school without his uniform and joined his cousins during the recess as usual.

“Who is responsible for the killing of our innocent children?” he cried and demanded that the responsible people must be brought to book to avoid such accidents in future.

Nisar Ahmed, victim Adnan’s father, said the entire building was dangerously dilapidated and any portion could have fallen down anytime. “But the condition of the collapsed wall was particularly dangerous and we had asked the school administration to get the building demolished as soon as possible,” he added.

The victim’s father, who runs a small eatery on the peninsula, said Adnan wan the eldest among his four children. “The fatal accident could have been averted had this building been demolished. But nobody can avert the decree of fate,” a comparatively composed man said.

The witnesses said the teaching staff of the school remained confined to the staff room for some time as the visibly shaken and enraged people surrounded the school building. However, they said, the people later dispersed peacefully when the elders of the area intervened and convinced them that the school administration was not responsible for the demolition of the worn-out building.

Shahid Rana, a resident, told Dawn that the peninsula was replete with dilapidated structures, adding that any of them could collapse any time. He pointed to an overhead water tank and said: “This tank has been declared to be dangerous enough to be demolished, but perhaps the authorities are just waiting for the moment when it will collapse itself,” he remarked.

Abdul Aleem, another resident, said the roof of Ghazi Centre, a two-storey commercial-cum-residential plaza, had once collapsed, though no one was hurt in the incident.

The SHO of Docks police, Inspector Nasirul Hasan, said no legal action was initiated into the matter as it was an accident.

No spokesman for the Manora Cantonment Board was available for comment.