At least 22 people, including women and children, were rescued on Monday after part of a building collapsed in Karachi’s Kharadar, rescue officials said.

According to information from Edhi and Rescue 1122, no casualties or injuries have been reported at the building, which is located near M Suleman Mithaiwala.

Rescue 1122 spokesperson Hassan Ul Haseeb Khan told Dawn.com that the bridge connecting two buildings at the sixth floor had collapsed, leaving residents on higher floors stranded.

He noted that the bridge was an old and dilapidated part of the building whose structure may have been weakened in the recent rains.

“The building has been vacated and declared unlivable because it might collapse any time,” Khan said.

“There were difficulties during the rescue operation as it was an old area of the city where it is difficult to commission snorkels due to the congested locality.

“Besides people living in adjoining residential buildings refused to vacate, claiming their building was safe and questioning why the need to leave,” he said.

He added that a huge crowd had gathered at the site of the incident and it was difficult to move machinery.

As soon as Rescue 1122 Central Command and Control received information of the incident, the Urban Search and Rescue Team, along with one ambulance and one disaster response vehicle reached the scene, Khan said.