Teenager dies in ceiling plaster collapse

Mustafa Hashim, 17, was sleeping when debris fell on him

KARACHI:

A youth lost his life due to the greed and criminal negligence of the owner of the house he had rented.

According to details, Mustafa Hashmi, 17, son of Mehmood Alam Hashmi, was killed while his father was injured when the plaster of the ceiling of an old and dilapidated house in DHA Phase-VII peeled odd and fell on them while they were asleep.

The deceased was the only son of his parents and was an A-level student.

The deceased youth had recently started memorizing the Holy Quran.

The young man's body was shifted to a private hospital in Clifton and later to Jinnah Hospital.

When contacted, Mehmood Alam Hashmi, father of the deceased youth, who was injured in the incident, told The Express Tribune that he had rented the said house about six months back and before that they were living in an apartment in Clifton block 4. He said, he left the apartment after the landlord increased the rent.

He said a number of times he drew the attention of landlord towasrds the dilapidated condition of the house and requested him to repair it but he always refused to get the repair work carried out and instead he asked them to get the repair work carried out on their own.

The young man's father said that he also spent Rs400,000 to Rs500,000 on the repair of the house but some parts of the house could not be repaired.

He said his son was busy preparing for the A-level exams and on 26th of Ramazan, he was fasting and after performing Zuhr prayers, he went to bed to take a nap.

He said that his son was sleeping on the bed while he and hid daughter were on the floor.

Suddenly the plaster of the ceiling fell on his son. He was buried under the debris and died before we could rush to his rescue.

The father of the deceased youth said, he doesn't want to initiate any legal action against the landlord but wants to draw attention of authorities concerned that there may be many houses and bungalows in Clifton, DHA and other areas of the city which would be in dilapidated condition and may cause disasters.

He said, his only son died in this tragedy and he does not want other children to meet same fate.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2022.