KARACHI: A man was killed and three others were injured when an under-construction commercial building collapsed in Defence Housing Authority (DHA) on Saturday.

The caved-in structure in Ittehad Commercial Area of DHA Phase VI was surrounded by rescue teams, ambulances and volunteers, a little later than usual after the incident because the first responders were initially given wrong directions by eyewitnesses, who informed them that the building was located in the Nishat Commercial area. Later, when they were given the exact location pin they did realise the mistake to reach the place for help.

The police received information about the incident at around 10.30am and launched the rescue operation, an official said.

There was one silver Daihatsu Hijet with the licence plate CV-6470 parked on the lane close to the structure. Bystanders at the collapse site said that it belonged to the building contractor, 45-year-old Haji Hanif Khan, who died in the incident.

“They were laying the first-floor roof of the building and the contractor had only just arrived in his little van to supervise the work when the roof collapsed on his head. Maybe there was no adequate support with too few pillars below. There was no loud noise just a thud and labourers screaming,” said one bystander.

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“There were three labourers laying the roof at the time who took a bad fall. One’s arm and one’s leg was injured while the third one only had superficial injuries. But the contractor on the ground floor, just below them was crushed to death,” said another eyewitness, who added that the incident took place a little after 11am.

The police arranged two heavy cranes while one crane of the DHA also joined rescue efforts.

The dead and injured were taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

Dr Summaiya Syed, additional police surgeon at the hospital, said that the relatives of the deceased took away the body of Haji Hanif Khan without allowing doctors to complete medico-legal formalities.

He apparently died of head injuries as he had bleeding from nose, she said, adding that injured Tanveer Qasim, 24, had swelling on the head and he was in semi-conscious state and still under observation. Another injured person, Shahzad, 18, had injuries on his lower legs.

Call for investigation

Dr Pervez Ghaffar, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf councillor for Ward-4 of Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC), said that he rushed to the place as soon as he learned about the incident.

“According to my information, this was going to be a four-storey building that collapsed during the laying of its first floor roof only. It is sad that there has also been one casualty, for whom we appeal to the government for compensation, but we want a proper investigation into the incident, as well,” he told Dawn.

MPA Shahzad Qureshi, who had also reached the scene with the councillor, said that it didn’t look like an accident.

“We want whoever is responsible for this arrested, be it the builders, DHA or CBC, whoever is responsible, is to be held accountable for this,” he added.

Mohammed Rehan Iqbal, a Jamat-i-Islami councillor for CBC’s Ward-5, said that even though there were hearing that there was one casualty with three injured, they were still going to dig to the building’s basement to check in case anyone was buried there.

“All new buildings have basements these days and we cannot rule out the possibility of someone trapped below so we have called diggers to not just clear the rubble but also to dig to the building’s foundations,” he added.

When contacted by Dawn, a spokesman for the CBC said it remained to be seen what happened after the department’s concerned technically checking the structure in question.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2022