Weak structure: 22 people injured in seminary roof collapse

The roof was under construction and a class was being conducted underneath, says SHO Tanvir

KARACHI:

Twenty-two people, most of them children, were injured as the roof of a seminary collapsed on them in Shahnawaz Bhutto Colony in New Karachi, on Thursday.

"The students were studying when the roof caved in, injuring the teacher and a labourer as well," said Khawaja Ajmer Nagri police station station house officer Raja Tanvir.

The roof was under construction and a class was being conducted underneath, said SHO Tanvir, adding that a labourer was working on the roof when it collapsed. He added that it was the negligence of the seminary administration to conduct a class under a roof that was built only a day ago and labourers were still working on the other part of it.

SHO Tanvir said that the administrator of the seminary was arrested for putting the lives of children in danger. However, no serious injuries have been reported, he added.

The seminary was situated on a hilly area and rescuers faced difficulties in reaching to the spot because of the narrow streets, the SHO said, adding that it is was a katchi abadi [slum area]. At first, the rescuers and the residents of the area removed the rubble with their hands to rescue the students, said the SHO.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th,  2015.