Death toll from the residential buildings' collapse in Karachi’s Golimar area rose to 18 on Friday as rescue efforts were underway to find survivors under the rubble.
According to the reports, the rescue teams retrieved five more dead bodies from the rubble earlier today taking the death toll to 18.
Earlier, in February a ground-plus-five storey residential building constructed on 80-square-yard plot in Lyari’s Usmanabad developed cracks before tilting dangerously.
Senior Superintendent of Police Central Arif Aslam Rao has said that the rescue operation has been slow as they fear that there are more people in the rubble. He added that the rubble is also being carefully removed as they believe that the nearby buildings may also collapse.
“The nearby buildings have been vacated as well due to this situation,” said SSP Rao. He added that the rescue operation was also facing difficulties due to narrow streets and may continue throughout the day.
Meanwhile, Minister for Local Government Nasir Hussain Shah assured that strict action will be taken against illegal buildings. He added that at this point all the focus was on the rescue operation and extracting the people stuck under the rubble.
The operation team includes officials from the district and city governments, Pakistan Army, Sindh Rangers, police, fire brigade, Edhi foundation, Chippa Welfare and others.
A case has been registered at the Rizvia Police Station into the incident. According to the First Information Report, the police got the information of the incident at 12:25pm. Clauses related to negligence and damage to people's life and property are added to the FIR.
Earlier, on Thursday morning, the five-storeyed residential building, 400 Quarter, had caved in Golimar Number 2, which according to SBCA’s director Katchi Abadi, Muhammad Raqeeb, was constructed in a well-planned area, which doesn’t come under Katchi Abadi's definition.