Four die as plaza collapses in Mingora
Two others were also injured in the incident at the under-construction building
MINGORA:
At least four members of a family have lost their lives, while two others were seriously injured when an under-construction plaza collapsed in Mingora, Swat early on Friday morning., locals and rescue workers told The Express Tribune.
Witnesses said that a plaza was being built in the town. However, at least two families had already moved into some sections of the under-construction structure.
Owing to heavy rains over the past few days, some unfinished pillars and non-reinforced walls of the plaza collapsed at around 2am with a loud crash which could be heard through most of the town.
Locals and rescue workers rushed to the spot to dig the dead and injured out of the rubble.
Those who lost their lives in the incident included a man, his wife, his daughter and sister. Two others, living in an adjoining house sustained injuries. They were all shifted to the Saidu Sharif Hospital.
A district administration official said that the main reason for the collapse could be that pillars of the plaza could have settled down, or that the rustic walls buckled because they could no longer bear the heavy load of the plaza, but the exact reasons can only be determined after a thorough investigation. He promised that an investigation will be carried out as lives had been lost in the incident.
Meanwhile, the district police have launched a preliminary investigation in the matter but a first information report will only be registered once the reasons behind the collapsed are determined.
New campsites identified
With the province bracing for another spell of rain and snow over the weekend, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), in consultation with respective district administrations, has identified an additional 178 places to set up emergency relief camps in case of natural disasters in 93 tehsils of the province. As many as 2.4 million people can be accommodated in these camps in case of an emergency.
A notification issued by the PDMA said that the campsites have been identified as a precautionary measure to provide immediate relief to people in the affected areas.
PDMA Spokesperson Taimur Ali in a statement on Friday said that that new campsites had been found in 19 districts of the province and added that as many as 72 campsites had already been identified in the remaining 16 districts of the province last October.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 18th, 2020.
At least four members of a family have lost their lives, while two others were seriously injured when an under-construction plaza collapsed in Mingora, Swat early on Friday morning., locals and rescue workers told The Express Tribune.
Witnesses said that a plaza was being built in the town. However, at least two families had already moved into some sections of the under-construction structure.
Owing to heavy rains over the past few days, some unfinished pillars and non-reinforced walls of the plaza collapsed at around 2am with a loud crash which could be heard through most of the town.
Locals and rescue workers rushed to the spot to dig the dead and injured out of the rubble.
Those who lost their lives in the incident included a man, his wife, his daughter and sister. Two others, living in an adjoining house sustained injuries. They were all shifted to the Saidu Sharif Hospital.
A district administration official said that the main reason for the collapse could be that pillars of the plaza could have settled down, or that the rustic walls buckled because they could no longer bear the heavy load of the plaza, but the exact reasons can only be determined after a thorough investigation. He promised that an investigation will be carried out as lives had been lost in the incident.
Meanwhile, the district police have launched a preliminary investigation in the matter but a first information report will only be registered once the reasons behind the collapsed are determined.
New campsites identified
With the province bracing for another spell of rain and snow over the weekend, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), in consultation with respective district administrations, has identified an additional 178 places to set up emergency relief camps in case of natural disasters in 93 tehsils of the province. As many as 2.4 million people can be accommodated in these camps in case of an emergency.
A notification issued by the PDMA said that the campsites have been identified as a precautionary measure to provide immediate relief to people in the affected areas.
PDMA Spokesperson Taimur Ali in a statement on Friday said that that new campsites had been found in 19 districts of the province and added that as many as 72 campsites had already been identified in the remaining 16 districts of the province last October.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 18th, 2020.