Tragedy: Nine dead as two buildings collapse

The deceased and injured were taken to Civil Hospital, Hyderabad.

HYDERABAD: Nine people, including women and children were killed, and as many were injured as two buildings collapsed in the densely populated bangle manufacturing area in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

One of the buildings, a three-storey structure which is said to be over 40-year-old, had a bangle furnace on its ground floor where the refining and finishing works were done by the labourers.

Most of the deceased and injured belonged to the same family. Although the government is yet to officially establish the cause of the collapse, the area's residents believe that the furnace had weakened the structure.

Mukhtiar Ali, a resident, said that the building was owned by Yameen Siddiqui alias Chaudhry who lived with his brothers and their families. "Chaudhry's building fell down over Akhtar Hussain's building, and razed it to the ground," he said.

The deceased have been identified as 61-year-old Akhtar Hussain, Almas,60, Ayesha,40, 35-year-old Hoor Bano, Rashid Mukhtiar, 30, Konain, 10, six-year-old Abdul Basit, six- year-old Maryam and Kanwal.

The injured include Nabi Baksh, Noor Bano, Qamar Jehan, Haris, Khalid Ahmed, Hyder Ali, Anam, Misbah, Rabia, 25, Jibran, Zafar, 16, Ali Raza, Yousuf Rashid, Nimrah and Ghazanfar.

They were all taken to the civil hospital, where the condition of at least four of the injured is said to be critical, according to Dr Shaukat Lakho, the additional medical superintendent.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd, 2014.