Hazardous work: Six injured in building collapse

Six labourers were trapped beneath the rubble

FAISALABAD:

Six construction workers were injured when the roof of an old building collapsed on Thursday near Satiana Road.

Muhammad Amin, an eyewitness, told The Express Tribune that the labourers were working at the old building, the site of a private university, when the roof caved in.

“Six laborers: 20-year-old Shehzad, 22-year-old Aamir, 28-year-old Ghulam Mustafa, 50-year-old Jamaal, 45-year-old Ashfaq and 27-year-old Riaz were trapped beneath the rubble,” Amin, who is also a labourer, said. Amin said he called Rescue 1122. “The rescue team pulled out the labourers from under the debris and took them to the divisional headquarters (DHQ) hospital for medical treatment,” he said. Amin said that the university was being built at the site of an old factory.

“One of the factory buildings was very old. The university administration ordered us to renovate it. After an inspection, the masons had requested the administration to demolish it. However, they were overruled,” he said.

“We had put up props to support the roof of the old building and were repairing it when it collapsed,” Amin said.

Dr Arif Nazir, on duty at the emergency ward of the DHQ Hospital, said that six labourers were being treated at the hospital. “The condition of one of the injured is very serious,” he said.

The Saddar police SHO said that they had not received a formal complaint.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2014.