LAHORE: Nine people were killed and 15 others injured seriously in separate incidents of roof collapse due to the heavy rain that last various parts of the province from Thursday night till early on Friday.

Four members of a family died and five others were injured in separate incidents when the roofs of a house and a godown caved in due to rain on Friday.

Four family members were trapped under the debris when the roof of a godown caved in in Afzaal Colony, Bund Road. Witnesses said that though locals had called the police on time, Rescue 1122 started an operation late.

However, rescue officials denied the allegations, saying the area was difficult to access because of rain and narrow streets.

A Rescue 1122 spokesman said that some 20 personnel participated in the operation and managed to retrieve four bodies, who were later identified as Azmat, Khalil, Asif and Rashid. They lived in a five-marla rented godown and were residents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Buner.

Separately, five family members, including two women, were injured when the roof of their dilapidated house collapsed at Rahbar Adda of Dholanwal.

Rescue 1122 teams recovered all of them safely, a spokesperson said. He said two injured women were shifted to hospital for treatment, while three others were provided first aid.

Police have started investigation into the incident, the spokesperson added.

Toba Tek Singh

Two brothers were injured critically when the roof of their house caved in on them owing to torrential rain in the wee hours of Friday in Chak 284-GB of Rajana on Rajana-Faisalabad road.

Rescue 1122 reported that Waqar Ahmad, 23, and Abid Ali, 25, were asleep when the roof caved in on them. Villagers and rescuers removed the debris and rescued the brothers. They were shifted to DHQ hospital where their condition was stated to be serious.

Sialkot

Three members of a family were injured as the roof of their house caved in during heavy rain in Kot Bagga village, Phalora in Pasrur tehsil.

Shehbaz Nawaz and his family were sleeping when the roof of their house caved in, seriously injuring Nawaz, his wife Saima Bibi and daughter Hadeeqa.

Rescuers recovered the injured from the debris and shifted them to hospital in critical condition.

Kasur

The bodies of five members of a Narowal-based family, who died in a roof collapse late on Thursday, were handed over to their heirs on Friday. The family was visiting Kasur to see its maternal relatives.

According to Rescue 1122, Gulshad (45), his wife Shagufta (35), daughters Amna Bibi (7), Maryiam (4), Fatima (3), and son Ali Haider (2) were asleep in a room in Kot Radha Kishan when its roof caved in on them during a heavy spell of rain.

Fatima was found alive under the body of her mother, while rescuers recovered the bodies of Gulshad, Shagufta, Amna, Maryiam and Ali. The bodies and the injured were shifted to Kot Radha Kishan THQ Hospital.

In another incident, three members of a family were injured when the roof of their house collapsed late on Thursday in Sheikhanwala in Kot Radha Kishan. They were identified as Muhammad Yousaf (35) and his daughters Ayesha (4) and Asia (2). The injured were rushed to the THQ hospital.

In a related incident, two family members were injured when the roof of a house caved in on Thursday night at Kalakabad in Kot Radha Kishan. The injured Sajida and Rehmatullah were shifted to the THQ hospital.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2020