Triple tragedy: Three children killed as roof of a house caves in
Police think rains, structural integrity of mud house to blame.
ISLAMABAD:
A day after heavy showers, the roof of a mud house in the suburbs of the city collapsed on Wednesday, burying four children under the rubble. Three of them died on the spot while the fourth suffered serious injuries.
The Ramna police said the incident occurred in Ittefaq Colony in Mehrabadi in the evening and the children, all related to each other, were indoors while their parents were away. Kaneez Fatima and Sohana, both 13, Zahid Abbas, 6, and Nayyab Bibi, 2, were trapped under the rubble as the roof of their mud house caved in.
Police and rescue teams said only Sohana was alive when they got through to the victims. She was shifted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in critical condition.
“She suffered serious head injuries and was unconscious when we found her,” said a Ramna police official.
A police official, investigating the case, said, “Heavy rains on Monday and Tuesday could have dampened the structure of the mud house and the roof likely caved in.” Iron rods and bars had been used to build the roof.
The children were hit by falling bricks and iron rods, causing head injuries that proved to be fatal, the officer added. “They died due to their head injuries, not of suffocation,” the police officer said, adding that the rubble was easily removed.
“People living in mud houses have been asked to check and strengthen the structures they are living in,” said the police officer.
Three families were living in the house. The bodies of the children were handed over to their fathers, brothers Muhammad Iqbal and Muhammad Riaz, and their brother-in-law Khadim Hussain.
All three men lost a child in the accident, while Riaz’s daughter Sohana, was discharged from the children’s ward at PIMS and taken elsewhere, a doctor at the hospital said.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2012.
A day after heavy showers, the roof of a mud house in the suburbs of the city collapsed on Wednesday, burying four children under the rubble. Three of them died on the spot while the fourth suffered serious injuries.
The Ramna police said the incident occurred in Ittefaq Colony in Mehrabadi in the evening and the children, all related to each other, were indoors while their parents were away. Kaneez Fatima and Sohana, both 13, Zahid Abbas, 6, and Nayyab Bibi, 2, were trapped under the rubble as the roof of their mud house caved in.
Police and rescue teams said only Sohana was alive when they got through to the victims. She was shifted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in critical condition.
“She suffered serious head injuries and was unconscious when we found her,” said a Ramna police official.
A police official, investigating the case, said, “Heavy rains on Monday and Tuesday could have dampened the structure of the mud house and the roof likely caved in.” Iron rods and bars had been used to build the roof.
The children were hit by falling bricks and iron rods, causing head injuries that proved to be fatal, the officer added. “They died due to their head injuries, not of suffocation,” the police officer said, adding that the rubble was easily removed.
“People living in mud houses have been asked to check and strengthen the structures they are living in,” said the police officer.
Three families were living in the house. The bodies of the children were handed over to their fathers, brothers Muhammad Iqbal and Muhammad Riaz, and their brother-in-law Khadim Hussain.
All three men lost a child in the accident, while Riaz’s daughter Sohana, was discharged from the children’s ward at PIMS and taken elsewhere, a doctor at the hospital said.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2012.