At least two killed, three injured as Lyari sees second building collapse this month

Police cordon off area surrounding six-storey building, rescue efforts underway

Two women were killed and three others injured on Thursday after the roof of a six-storey residential building collapsed near Lyari’s Khadda Market in Karachi, officials said.

Photo: FILE

According to rescue authorities, the sixth floor of the Ghani Mansion building, located near Bilal Masjid and Peshawari Hotel, gave way and fell onto the fifth floor, which in turn collapsed onto the fourth.

Rescue 1122 teams, along with other emergency services, rushed to the site and launched relief efforts. Police also cordoned off the area and helped coordinate rescue operations, which are yet underway.

DIG South Syed Asad Raza confirmed that two women died in the incident, and three others reported to be their daughters were injured. The deceased have been shifted to Civil Hospital Karachi.

Read: Architects of collapse: Karachi’s crumbling buildings

One of the victims was identified as 45-year-old Hurmat Rafiq, according to a spokesperson for the Edhi Foundation. The identity of the second woman has not yet been confirmed.

All five victims were residents of the building. Officials stated that the injured were receiving medical treatment, and their conditions were being monitored.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the collapse and assessing structural damage to the surrounding area.

A similar tragedy unfolded earlier this month in Lyari’s Baghdadi area, when a five-storey residential building collapsed. Rescue operations lasted nearly 50 hours.

Civil Hospital Karachi confirmed 27 fatalities and 10 injuries, including 11 women, 16 men, and a toddler girl aged one-and-a-half years. The incident raised fresh concerns about building safety and regulation enforcement in older neighbourhoods of Karachi.

The Sindh government subsequently ordered a fresh province-wide survey of all dangerous buildings, citing complaints that some had been wrongly declared unsafe.

District committees have already been established and will include technical experts from ABAD, PEC, and the Council of Architects and Town Planners.

A meeting chaired by Ghani reviewed 588 dilapidated buildings in Karachi, 59 of which were deemed extremely dangerous. Karachi authorities said 29 of those have been vacated. The list was later updated with over 70 more unsafe buildings structure.