Unsafe Buildings: Teen sisters killed in roof collapse

LAHORE:

Two sisters died and seven people were injured when two dilapidated houses collapsed during heavy monsoon rains in the city on Monday.

Irum, 16, and Bakhtawar, 18, were killed when the roof of their house near Crown Marriage Hall in Baghbanpura caved in, Rescue 1122 officials told The Express Tribune. The girls were killed instantly by the falling debris, they said.

Rescue officials, with the help of locals, were able to pull out five others trapped under the rubble: Ghulam Shabbir, 40, and Shahnaz Bibi, 35, and their three other children Shabbir, Natasha and Riaz. All five were moved to a hospital where they are being treated for their injuries.

Another couple was trapped under rubble when the roof of their home near Youhanabad Stop on Ferozepur Road collapsed. Their neighbours helped Rescue 1122 officials pull them free. Babar Masih, 25, and his wife Mumtaz, 23, are being treated in General Hospital where they are out of danger, said the officials.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 9^th, 2011.

For more picture of the monsoon, view a slideshow here