14 people die in Buner as roof caves in

Funeral prayers of the owner of the house were underway when the roof collapsed.

SWAT:

At least 14 people, including a child, were killed on Tuesday when the roof of a house collapsed in the village of Bazargay in Buner’s Salarzai tehsil. Funeral prayers were under way for road crash victim and Bazargay village resident  Arshad when the roof of his house caved in. Arshad has died in a road accident in Peshawar on Monday night.

According to sources, the body of the deceased had been placed on a temporary roof built over a sewage system during the funeral. The roof collapsed and 14 women and a child drowned in the sewage water while 28 others sustained injuries despite efforts to rescue them.

An eye-witness said that a concrete slab covering the sewage hole gave way as people crowded into the house to attend the funeral. Women and children who were sitting on top of the slab plunged 20 to 25 feet down the hole and died on the spot.

The injured were taken into the RHC hospital Jowwar and DHQ hospital Daggar where an emergency had already been imposed. DCO Mujeebur Rehman, ACO Zafar Abbasi and DPO Falak Naz also visited the site where they expressed their grief and sorrow over the tragedy.

Buner DCO Mujeeb ur Rehman told The Express Tribune he was “feeling great sorrow for the victims of the tragic incident” and promised that every facility would be extended to the injured. “I will personally talk to the government to help the survivors of the deceased.”

Local authorities are investigating the cause of the collapse.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2010.