14 killed in Pakistan building collapse, search continues for survivors
Families await news of trapped loved ones outside a building home to around 20 families in the Lyari neighbourhood of Karachi
Rescue teams pulled more bodies from the rubble of a five-storey building collapse in Pakistan overnight, taking the toll on Saturday to 14 as the recovery operation continued for a second day.
The residential block crumbled shortly after 10am on Friday in the impoverished Lyari neighbourhood of Karachi, which was once plagued by gang violence and considered one of the most dangerous areas in Pakistan.
Abid Jalaluddin Shaikh, leading the government’s 1122 rescue service at the scene, said the operation continued through the night “without interruption”.
“It may take eight to twelve hours more to complete,” he said.
Police official Summiaya Syed, at a Karachi hospital where the bodies were received, said that the death toll on Saturday morning stood at 14, half of them women, with 13 injured.
Up to 100 people had been living in the building, senior police officer Arif Aziz told reporters.