1 killed in Quetta building collapse

Owner blamed for undertaking construction work in freezing cold

QUETTA:

At least one labourer was killed and four others were injured when an under-construction building suddenly collapsed in Quetta’s Stewart Road neighbourhood on Tuesday.

Police told The Express Tribune that laborers were working in the building when it suddenly came crashing down. As a result five labourers were trapped under the debris.

Rescue workers and police rushed to the scene and launched a rescue operation. The team from the provincial disaster management authority (PDMA) reached the spot and rescued four labourers. However, one labourer was found dead.

“We have ordered an inquiry into the incident,” Balochistan Minister for Mines and Minerals Mobeen Khilji said. Khilji visited the spot and inspected the rescue operation.

“This was the fault of the owner of the building,” Babar Khan Yousafzai, the coordinator of the chief minister Balochistan, said, adding that the owner was constructing the building despite harsh chilly weather in Quetta.

For three months, technically there should be no construction work in Quetta because of sub-zero temperatures, Yousafzai said.

Residents of the area complained that they had lodged a complaint against the construction work with the deputy commissioner Quetta.

“DC office did not respond to those complaints,” a local woman lamented, adding that the collapse of the building has caused blockade of streets, creating problems for the residents.

“We are facing trouble without inviting any attention,” she moaned.

However, Mobeen Khilji said that action against the owner will be taken and an FIR will be lodged against him.

In Quetta, over 500 buildings have been constructed in violation of the building code. The British administration fixed maximum 30 feet height for the buildings after the deadly earthquake of 1935 which had razed the city to the ground.

They also ensured strict implementation of the building code.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th, 2023.