LAHORE – District Coordination Officer Ahad Cheema, MPA Khawaja Saad Rafique and Rescue 1122 Director General Rizwan Naseer held a joint press conference at the Mochi Gate Garden on the rescue operation going on in the fire-hit area of Shah Alam Market on Saturday.
“Our first priority is to recover bodies from the debris,” DCO Lahore Ahad Cheema said, “after the bodies are recovered we will start removing the debris.” Dr Rizwaan Naseer said that the bodies were between the Qadri Center and Bahria Center, and the search operation was on the way. He said that the District Government was helping in this regard. He said that professional structural engineers were employed and and 400 jacks had been brought to stabilize the adjoining buildings.
He said that Rescue 1122’s fire fighting cars were on standby to cope with the an emergency situation. The DCO said that hundreds of Solid Waste Management (SWM) and Civil Defence workers have been called in and a survey was underway. Khawaja Saad Rafique said every step was being taken in consultation with traders, answering a question about the legal status of the buildings in the congested areas.
“I shall not be blackmailed voters,” he said, “traders are concerned about their own safety.” Ahad Cheema said that a transfer of markets from congested areas in the Walled City has been under discussion for many years and an innovative solution was needed. He said that district government and Rescue service camps had been established in the area.
Dr Rizwan Naseer said that its not easy to operate under these conditions and Rescue teams are working very carefully to recover the bodies, he said that we are concentrating on the upper parts in the first stage.
