KARACHI: Five people, including two brothers, were killed and four others injured when an under-construction building collapsed in Shah Faisal Colony on Wednesday, said officials and witnesses.

This is not the first case as many similar incidents have taken place in the past in which scores of people were killed.

The Association of Builders and Developers (Abad) described the three-storey building, which was being constructed on a 40-square-yard plot, as ‘illegal’ and asked the government to take action against responsible builders and contractors.

Shah Faisal Colony SHO Saqib Khan said that on Wednesday labourers were laying reinforced cement concrete (RCC) roof on the third floor when the building collapsed.

Third floor was being built on 40-sq-yd plot in Shah Faisal Colony

He said the structure could not withstand the weight of two RCC roofs on first and second floors.

The police said an elderly passer-by was killed while several labourers were buried under the rubble.

The debris was removed with machinery and four bodies and as many wounded people were taken out from the debris, the SHO added.

Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed said that five bodies were brought to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

The victims were identified as passer-by Abdul Ghaffar, 70 and labourers Naseer Ahmed, 30, Mohammed Kashif, 38, Asghar, 28, and Sikander, 22.

An Edhi Foundation spokesperson said that Asghar and Sikander were brothers.

Speaking to Dawn, Rescue 1122 Director Dr Abid Shaikh said that they received a call about the collapse of an under-construction building at 10:26am and their team equipped with a disaster management vehicle arrived there within 20-25 minutes to launch the rescue operation.

He said in such incidents it was seen that usually the contractors/builders concerned did not keep a full record of employed men.

In this case also, initially, the rescue workers were informed that only two people had been trapped inside the debris, but during the search operation, five bodies were found and three people were rescued.

Dr Abid said another problem, which they faced was congested localities where vehicles could not move in narrow streets and their problems were increased with presence of huge crowds as most people had just gathered there to make videos.

However, with the help of district administration and law enforcers, the Rescue 1122 finished the rescue work. He said work for removal of debris would continue till evening.

Abad demands action against illegal buildings

Residents and police said that there was an 80-sq-yd plot in Shah Faisal Colony No5, which was illegally bifurcated into two plots of 40 square yards each and the builder, identified as Wazir, sold one of the plots and started raising upper floors on the other plot that had old construction on the ground floor.

Expressing deep sorrow over the death of five people in an ‘illegal’ building construction, Abad on Wednesday asked the government to take stern action against construction of illegal buildings in Karachi and people involved in that illegal activity.

In a statement, Abad chairman Asif Sumsum said if the government did not take action against perpetrators of illegal constructions, such incidents would continue to happen in the city and more people would lose their lives.

This was not the first incident of collapse of an illegally-built building in the metropolis as dozens of people had already died in such incidents in this mega city, it added.

Abad asked the caretaker Local Government Minister Mubin Jumani to take serious notice of this horrible incident and take action against all responsible perpetrators.

The Abad chairman added that the organisation had always raised its voice against illegal construction in the city because illegal construction was not only affecting master plan and municipal policies, but also badly damaging the infrastructure of the city.

He said that the government should not allow the so-called ‘builders and contractors’ to construct illegal buildings because saving lives of people and their properties was the responsibility of the government.

“The widespread illegal constructions in Karachi are a real challenge to Sindh Building Control Authority and Master plan department,” said Abad head.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2023