LAHORE, Jan 18: A man, his wife and three children died when a dilapidated two-storey house collapsed on them at Tibbi here in the wee hours of Friday.

The incident took place in Mohalla Tharrian of the Walled City when labourer Shahzad Shabbir, his wife Komal and children Anas, Shahban and Iram were asleep in the lower portion of the rented house.

Quoting neighbors, a police official said the house was among some other buildings near Government Said Mitha Hospital which had been declared dangerous due to dilapidated condition.

He said Shahzad had been living along with his family in the rented house for the last three years.

He said the family members were asleep in a room at the ground floor when roofs of second and first portions of the building caved in, adding that they were recovered dead.

A Rescue 1122 official said the rain weakened further the structure of the rundown building which resulted in its collapse.

He said the rescuers could not reach the spot timely to launch a rescue operation due to narrow streets.

He said it took rescuers an hour to remove bodies from the collapsed wreckage without equipment, machineries and vehicles which had to park at a distance from the venue.

The death of whole family members sent a wave of shock among residents.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif expressed his grief and sorrow over the loss of human lives in the building collapse.

KILLING: A man was shot dead by his brothers-in law over a family dispute in Shahdara.

The police said Riaz had differences with his wife, Amna, over some family issues. They said Amna’s brothers Sajid and Wajid, who held a grudge against Riaz, shot him dead at his residence.

The police arrested both of them and sent the body for autopsy.