SUKKUR: Three members of a family, among them a child, were killed and 10 were injured when a three-storey building on Hussain Road near Clock Tower collapsed all of sudden on Thursday evening.

At least 10 inmates were still missing and believed to be trapped under the debris as rescue operation continued to save their lives.

Neighbours said that four brothers together with their families, about 25 in number, lived in the building.

As the edifice came down, area people rushed to the rescue of the inmates caught under the debris. They were later joined by personnel of police and Rangers who together managed to retrieve the bodies and the injured.

Sukkur Civil Hospital’s medical superintendent Dr Tasneem Kha­m­i­sani said that the hospital had so far received dead bodies of one-year-old Imran, son of Arsalan Umar Mughal, and his mother Meena Arsalan, 35, who were dead when they were removed from the debris, and 11 injured.

Search for 10 close relatives continues into night

One Ms Khalida, 32, wife of Adnan Mughal died after arriving at the hospital while 10 others — who were all members of the extended family —, including Arsalan, 40, Muhammad Asif, 30, Ahmed Bilal, 26, Abdul Hameed, 35, Muneeza, 6, Faiza, 4, Aaneeba, 6, and three others still unidentified were admitted for treatment.

The condition of three among the injured was critical, he added.

Rescuers said that there were still at least 10 inmates trapped under the debris and efforts were being made with the help of heavy machines to pull them out alive.

They were facing great difficulties in the rescue work because of darkness as electricity supply had been disconnected to safeguard the rescuers and survivors against severed cables and fallen poles, they said.

Sukkur Mayor Arsalan Islam Shaikh, Commissioner Shafiq Ahmed Mahesar, deputy commissioner Rana Adeel Tassawur and SSP Iran Samoo reached the area to oversee the rescue operation.

According to the DC, emergency has been declared in all hospitals in Sukkur where doctors and paramedical staff have been put on high alert and directives have been issued to get the buildings adjacent to the collapsed edifice vacated over fears they too may have suffered damage from the fall.

The mayor and the commissioner blamed in unison the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) for the incident and said the tragedy occurred because of sheer carelessness of the authority. Investigation would be conducted into the collapse later, they said.

The commissioner said the administration had also sought help of the personnel of Engin­eering Corps of Pak Army who had come from Pano Akil Cantonment to take part in the rescue work and help remove debris of the building with the help of heavy machinery.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah is reported to have taken notice of the incident.

He issued directives to the commissioner to utilise all resources to retrieve survivors from the debris of the building who were still missing.

The rescue work continued to search out the missing inmates.

This is the second such incident in the same area. On Dec 24, 2008, a six-storey building had collapsed.

Seven people were killed and more than 15 were injured in the tragedy.

Then minister for local bodies Agha Siraj Durrani had ordered a number of inquiries into the incident but nothing came out of them as the matter was soon hushed up.

The government did take a few cosmetic measures like the establishment of SBCA office in Sukkur but it did not bring any material change. Multi-storey buildings continue to be built with complete impunity despite clear orders of the Sukkur bench of the Sindh High Court issued from time to time between 2008 and 2019.

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2020