Accident: Eight labourers injured in roof collapse

FAISALABAD:

Eight labourers and factory workers were injured on Monday when the roof of an under-construction house in Madina Town caved in. A wall of an adjacent building also collapsed.

Rescue officials believe the roof collapsed due to vibrations caused by heavy machinery being operated at the adjacent printing press.

The injured, including four printing press workers, were taken to the district headquarters hospital.

Police said Mirza Gulbaz, a resident of Mansoorabad, had set up printing press on Mehar Chowk in Madina Town. He had installed heavy machinery.

They said the machinery was so heavy that the entire building jolted while it was being used.

They said the continuous jolts had resulted in the collapse of the roof of an under-construction house adjacent to the press building. A wall of the press building also came down.

Four press workers and four labourers were buried underneath the rubble. Rescue officials were called and the men were pulled out.

The injured were identified as Shehzad Ibrahim of Chak 115-RB, Abdus Shakoor of Chicha Watni, Muhammad Umar of 202 Gatti Sharqi, Sohail Arshad of Rasool Park, Shehbaz Riaz of Rasool Park, Mehmood Ali of Data Park in Mansoorabad, Iftikhar Jaffar of Rasool Park and Hafeez Mughal of Chak 115-RB.

Peoples Colony ASP Ataur Rehman and Madina Town Station House Officer Muhammad Hussain arrived at the spot.

The ASP ordered an inquiry into the incident. He said it would be probed if the builders had been using sub-standard material for the construction.

Police said they had not received a complaint so far.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2013.