KARACHI: Another abandoned British-era building collapsed in the old city area on Tuesday. However no one was hurt in the incident, police said.

Earlier, two abandoned colonial-era buildings had collapsed in the old city areas within a span of three months this year.

“The building is located on main Shahra-i-Liaquat behind Sindh Muslim Gov­e­rn­ment Science College off M.A. Jinnah Road,” said an official at the Mithadar police station.

“It’s a three-storey building, which was once used as a government primary school. More than two years ago, the building had been vacated and the school was moved to another nearby facility amid fears of its vulnerability. Since then, the building had been abandoned,” the official said.

He said that the outer portion of the building came down to the ground in the second half of the day leaving two cars and three motorbikes parked outside the building badly damaged. The vehicles were parked by the people worked at nearby places as a matter of routine.

“There has been no harm to anyone neither there is any damage to any other infrastructure. The fire department was timely informed which brought rescue and search team as a precaution. However, the area was declared clear,” he said.

The official said that efforts were being made to trace the actual owner of the building.

He added that the fire department had engaged private contractors to lift the debris of the collapsed structure, which was affecting the flow of traffic.

Published in Dawn, April 5rd, 2023