Karachi: Rescue teams were racing against time to find survivors in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, after a multi-storey residential building collapsed, killing at least 16 people. 'The accident resulted in the deaths of at least 16 people,' a rescue department official said. The victims were nine men, six women, and a child. More than 20 people were injured in the incident.
According to Ghana News Agency, Karachi mayor Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui stated that the rescue operation was still under way in Lyari, a densely populated neighborhood where the building had collapsed. While the exact number of residents is not yet known, local administration officials estimated that around 100 people might have been living in the building. Families anxiously awaited news of their loved ones.
A district administration official mentioned that it might take another 10 to 12 hours to complete the rescue operation. He noted the possibility of survivors being trapped under the rubble, but there is a fear that the number of deaths may increase.
Local media aired images of the collapsed building, which authorities had previously declared unfit for living, and showed rescue workers searching for survivors under the rubble. Building safety codes are often ignored in Pakistan, leading to several such accidents in the past in Karachi.
The city of over 20 million people is notorious for its widespread illegal construction, substandard buildings, and aging infrastructure. According to reports, there are more than 300 unsafe residential buildings in Karachi.
