At least five members of a family were buried alive when a 200-year-old building collapsed on Friday. According to the police, a dilapidated three-storey building suddenly caved in at Syed Mitha Bazar. As a result, Shahzad Nasiri, his wife, 30, and three children named Unis 13, Suban, 12 and Mirab, 10 were buried alive. Shahzad’s mother survived.
Upon notification, Rescue 1122 reached the scene and retrieved the bodies.
According to eyewitnesses, the roof of the house collapsed around 5.30 AM. They said the house was over 200 years old. The house had been rented out by Azam, who was the owner. They said that two years ago, the first floor of the house had also collapsed but the owner had taken no notice. They said that the deceased family had been living in house for over three years as tenants.
A local named Nisar told Pakistan Today that Shahzad was a social worker and belonged to Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N). He said that Shahzad had been unemployed for the last few days.
He said that the family knew about the safety hazards of living in the old building but could not afford to live any place else. He said that they had received notices from officials to vacate the building but had no other means of housing.
Talking to Pakistan Today, TMO Malik Ibrar said that they had announced 281 buildings across the city which did not meet the safety requirements to be vacated.
He said that the government could not be blamed if residents refused to vacate the buildings despite the safety risks.
After the incident, Hamza Sharif, son of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, met with the Shahzad’s mother and gave her a cheque of Rs 1,500,000.
Four people were killed in separate incidents across the city: According to details, a 75-year-old woman named Zubaida, resident of Shalimar area, died after her blanket caught fire while she was adjusting her gas heater.
In another incident, a boy named Wasim died from severe burns. According to details, the child was playing in his house when he accidentally knocked over a container of boiling water and splashed it on himself. His family rushed him to the hospital where the child died because of his burns. In another incident, a man named Riaz, resident of Shaldar, died when his brother-in-laws Sajjid, Ilyas and Wajid opened fire and murdered him.
Reports said that Riaz had a property dispute with them. After the incident, the police reached at spot arrested the accused and filed an FIR at the request of the deceased’s family.
In another report, a woman named Sughra Bibi swallowed poisonous pills and ended her life due to a family dispute in the area of Defence. After the incident, the police reached at the spot, recovered the dead body and shifted it to the morgue for the post mortem.
5 of a family killed as roof collapses
