KARACHI: Civil and military administration on Monday completed the rescue operation and removal of debris in the Gulbahar area where a five-storey building had collapsed, falling on other adjacent buildings on Thursday, leading to the death of 27 people, including women and children, and injuries to 23 others, officials said.

Pakistan Rangers Sindh on Monday declared that the area had been cleared.

According to a statement issued by the paramilitary force, after the collapse of the building on March 5, under directions of Rangers DG Maj Gen Omer Ahmed Bukhari, rescue teams of the Rangers were sent to the spot immediately.

The Rangers with personnel of the army and civil administration took part in rescue operations and also provided heavy machinery for the removal of the rubble.

“Today, the debris of collapsed buildings has been removed completely,” declared the Rangers.

The paramilitary force spokesperson said that 27 bodies and 23 injured persons were recovered from the debris. The injured were shifted to hospital for treatment.

The Rizvia Society police and rescue services said that among the dead were seven members of the same family whose bodies were shifted to their native place in Shikarpur for burial on Sunday.

The officials said that two cars were also destroyed when the debris fell on them.

Meanwhile, probe teams on Monday launched an investigation to ascertain the cause of the collapse of the building.

Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shallwani and Director General of the Sindh Building Control Authority Dr Nasim-ul-Ghani Sahito have set up two separate committees to probe the causes of the building collapse, investigate the approved building plan and fix responsibility.

The police have registered a case against the owner-cum-builder Javed and others on charges of manslaughter etc, but so far the suspect has not been arrested.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2020