RAWALPINDI: With tears in his eyes, their father begged onlookers to help them. But it was too late; five children, including two girls, died on Wednesday after being buried under rubble when the roof of their dilapidated house collapsed in the Dhoke Lalial area.

Eleven others were injured in the incident.

Doctors at Benazir Bhutto Hospital told Dawn that of the eleven, three children were in critical condition. Two of them are said to be gradually recovering, while the third is still not out of danger.

The unfortunate father, Waheed Khan, is a labourer who has been living in a low-rent house located in the narrow alleys of Dhoke Lalial with his brother Sher Azam, for almost eight years now. Both brothers had seven children each.

At the time of the incident, both brothers were at work while their wives and a sister-in-law were cooking and cleaning in an adjoining room. There were 16 children playing in the room at the time of the collapse.

Poverty forced labourer to live in dilapidated house with extended family

The roof caved in with a loud bang that reverberated through the congested neighbourhood. Upon hearing the noise, several neighbours rushed out of their houses and ran to help the victims.

“Please hurry, our children are buried under tons of debris,” one of the mothers is said to have cried out.

By the time rescue services arrived, neighbours had already recovered most of the children trapped under the rubble. Two of them died on the spot.

Rescuers pulled out the rest of the children trapped under the debris and took them to Benazir Bhutto Hospital, where three others succumbed to their injuries. Those who had minor bruises were given first-aid on the spot.

The deceased include Waheed’s children; four-year-old Nadia and two-year-old Nadeem; and Sher Azam’s children; seven-year-old Waheedullah and four-year-old Sadia. Six-year-old Saifullah also died in the incident.

Waheed Khan, in his statement, said that all the children of the household were playing when the roof of the house collapsed. He claimed that he was looking for another house, as the condition of their current home was poor. He, however, said that that he was unable to shift into a better house due to high rents and low household income.

“The owner of the house was asking us to vacate the house, as he wanted to get it repaired. But due to high rents, I could not vacate the building and today I met with the fate,” he said.

When contacted, Station House Officer (SHO) Airport Raja Musadiq told Dawn that the owner of the house had never been served any notice by the district administration to demolish the house or get it repaired. He believes it was because the house was located in a rural area.

The SHO further said that Waheed Khan, who had seven children, and his brother Sher Azam, who also had seven children, had been living in the house since almost seven to eight years.

“The children who were sitting besides the wall of the room survived, while those who were sitting in the middle became fatal victims when the roof collapsed on them,” Raja Masadiq said, adding that the residents of the neighbourhood were equally worried about the tragic deaths of five innocent children.

He alleged that poverty was the major element that forced the two poor families to live in this worn-down house. “Otherwise they would have moved to another safer place,” he said.

The ill-fated family belonged to Shub Qadar, Peshawar.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2014