Six dead as mosque roof collapses during Friday prayers in Karachi

KARACHI: A collapsed metal awning killed at least six people after Friday prayers at a mosque in Karachi, police said.

A temporary sun shade fell on the courtyard area of the Usman mosque in North Nazimabad, Karachi following prayers, said police official Zulfiqar Haider.

"I was in the mosque myself ... people were offering a prayers following the conclusion of the (main) Friday prayer when we heard a loud crash following a gust of wind," he said.

The corrugated metal awning fell directly on worshippers, he said.

A view of Jamia Masjid Usman in North Nazimabad area of Karachi, where five people died and several others injured after a roof collapse incident on June 9, 2016. PHOTO: EXPRESS



Police and rescuers arrived at the scene and shifted the injured to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for emergency medical treatment where condition of one injured is said to be critical.

Temperatures in Karachi often hit maximums of near 40 degrees Celsius in the summer, and the awning had been erected to shield worshippers from the sun.

Bodies and the injured were brought to the hospital, Assistant Police Surgeon Dr Robina told The Express Tribune.

Political leaders express grief

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly Khawaja izharul Hasan expressed grief over the incident.

Shah directed commissioner Karachi to submit an inquiry report at the earliest.



In December last year, 22 people, most of them children, had been injured as the roof of a seminary collapsed on them in Shahnawaz Bhutto Colony in New Karachi.