Unsafe structures: Three of a family die as roof collapses in Lyari

The building had reportedly been declared as ‘dilapidated’ by KBCA a while ago.

KARACHI: Three people were killed on Tuesday when the roof of a dilapidated flat in the Khadda market area of Lyari collapsed.

The mishap occurred in the morning and caught the residents of the ill-fated flat, located at the top of a six-storey building, unaware. The building in which the flat was located had earlier been declared as ‘dilapidated’ by the Karachi Building Control Authority, said rescue workers.

All the occupants of the flat were alseep at the time the roof came down and were trapped under the debris. The residents of the area quickly rushed to help rescue workers free them. The people trapped under the rubble were 40-year-old Ayaz, his 35-year-old wife Nadia and their two-year-old son Akhtar.



The victims were shifted to Civil hospital where they succumbed to injuries while being treated. An official of the Baghdadi police station said the roof of the building had been worn out for a long time but despite this, families had been living there for a long time.

A large number of dilapidated buildings located in the Old City area have been declared ‘dangerous’ for inhabitants by the building control authority.

On August 2011, a dilapidated building in the same area caved in, as a result of which 33 people died. Following the incident, the building control authority announced that it would take action against the owners of dilapidated buildings, especially in this area.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2013.