At least seven people, including two children, were killed when a multi-storey building collapsed in the Lyari area of Karachi on Thursday.
Karachi Commissioner Syed Muhammad Hussain told reporters that around 40 to 50 people were feared trapped under the debris of the five-storey building in Street 5, Moosa Lane near Kausar Mosque, and some 35 people had been pulled out of the rubble and sent to Civil Hospital Karachi for treatment. Police also evacuated the building next to the one that collapsed in order to avoid another incident. It said at least 10 families were living in the building despite warnings that it was structurally weak and might collapse.
The city government had conducted a survey of two towns last year and declared 113 building unfit and dangerous to live in. The inspection teams warned residents of these buildings to evacuate as soon as possible, an order that was not obeyed by the occupants of any of the buildings in question. The residents demanded the government provide them with alternative accommodation, but so far there has been no progress from either side. Sources claimed that thousands of such buildings were in such a dilapidated condition that a single tremor would see them “falling like a deck of cards”. “The worst thing is that the streets around these buildings are extremely congested since they were built without any planning, meaning that in case of a disaster, not a single earth-moving machine – essential for the removal of rubble in the rescue process – will be able to make its way through to a disaster site,” said a source.
Who is responsible for this tragedy? The people who lived in the building or the authorities (since Karachi no longer has an elected government)? First of all if the building was too dangerous to live, then it was the duty of the authorities to have the building vacated and alternative living arrangements ensured. But since there were no guarantees by the government – people lost their lives.
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