Negligent construction: Couple, daughter die in roof collapse

Three children injured, doctors say they will likely survive.

GUJRANWALA:

Three people died and three others were injured on Sunday when a roof of an under-construction house collapsed.

The injured were taken to a hospital, where doctors treating them said that they would likely survive.

Rescue officials said Saain Shahbaz was adding to his house in Bilal Town in Lohianwala.

The roof of the new unit collapsed on Sunday when the beams were being placed on it. Five people on the first floor were trapped under the rubble.

Neighbours called for help and also started to move the beams and the rubble.

By the time professional help arrived and the rubble was removed, Shahbaz , 36, his wife Shazia, 32, and their four-year-old daughter Momina were dead.



The injured, identified as Irfan, Hafsa and Iqra, were taken to Civil Hospital, where they were later reported to be out of danger.

Shahbaz’s brother Muhammad Ijaz blamed the tragedy on the building contractor, who had remained unharmed.

Ijaz said the beams were being placed, while there was still time for the walls of the lower portion to dry properly. He said the contractor, Majeed, was warned that the walls might lack the strength to support roofing but he went ahead.

He said his brother and his family were asleep when the roof collapsed on them.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2013.