LAHORE - Three persons of a family died and four others were wounded seriously when the roof of their house collapsed on them in the Walled City, rescue workers said Saturday. The death toll may rise as the search and rescue operation was underway at the site till late Saturday.
The victims were present on the third portion of the three-storey building when its roof caved in, all of a sudden. An official said the building located in Mohalla Aslam Khan near Bhati Chowk was in dilapidated condition.
A spokesman for the Rescue-1122 service said the rescuers pulled out three bodies from the debris after hours-long efforts while four injured persons were shifted to Mayo Hospital. The condition of a woman was said to be critical at the hospital till late Saturday.
Rescue spokesman Farooq told reporters late Saturday that the operation was still underway at the site.
He said the building was declared dangerous but the residents were unwilling to leave the structure.
“The situation is very challenging (for the rescue workers). The building was in very dangerous condition and its one side is crumbling down,” he said. “Rescuers have seen another body trapped in the wreckage and they were still working there” he said. The operation is not over yet, he added.
The deceased persons were identified as Shehzad, 45, Shaheen Bibi, 40, and Qasim Ali, 70. The injured persons including Haseeb, 3, Areeb 5, Khizar Hayat, 35, Hafiz Nawab, 35, Farzana 35 were shifted to the hospital one-by-one on ambulances.
A rescue official said narrow streets hindered the rescue operation since they were unable to move long vehicles towards the site. Dozens of locals gathered on the spot soon after the incident. They were seen assisting rescuers in the search and rescue operation.
Hundreds of buildings have been identified as dangerous by the Walled City of Lahore Authority. In an annual report last year, the department identified more than 600 dangerous properties inside the Walled City of Lahore. The officials cited lack of funds as one of the reasons due to which the dangerous buildings could not be repaired and were rapidly increasing in number.
According to the report, out of 22,000 properties at least 601 were listed as dangerous and out of them 262 were set for demolishing and 228 needed immediate repairing. A list of such properties was prepared by the Building Control Department of the WCLA in 2018.