KARACHI: The death toll of victims of the multistorey residential building collapse in Allahwala Town in Korangi on Friday rose to four as three more bodies of the same family were recovered from the debris, said officials.

The three bodies of the same family — a woman and her two children — were brought to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre on Friday morning, said Dr Seemin Jamali, executive director of the hospital. The victims were identified as Ayesha, 37, Arsalan, 9, and Ahen, 11.

The police said that the deceased were wife and children of traffic police officer Mohammed Zulfiqar, who was living in the building.

A teenage boy, Waqas, had died when he came under the debris on Thursday. The district administration and the Sindh Building Control Authority have launched an inquiry to ascertain possible causes of the collapse of and fix its responsibility.

Karachi Commissioner Sohail Rajput who visited the site on Thursday said he had ordered an inquiry into the incident and directed the administration to submit preliminary report urgently.

Separately, Karachi Administrator Iftikhar Ali Shallwani, who also visited the place on Thursday, said that inquiry would be held to ascertain the reason behind building collapse.

He said that three- to five-storey buildings had been built in many residential areas of Karachi where only ground-plus one was permissible.

“Action will be taken against [those] responsible for allowing such constructions as such buildings are dangerous for human lives.”

The deputy commissioner of Korangi said that another adjacent building was also adversely affected after the building collapse and it was in dangerous position too.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2020