Daily Times

LAHORE: A man, his wife and their two sons died when a three-storey dilapidated house collapsed inside the Mochi Gate area on Saturday. Six passersby were also injured in the incident.

According to details, the structure of the house was in a dilapidated condition and it collapsed on Saturday morning, trapping the family under the debris. Rescue officials also faced difficulties in carrying out the operation due to the congested streets.

The deceased house owner, Ghulam Abbas, his wife Marrium, son Ali Gohar, Sabih Hassan and Shabbir were present inside the three-storey house at Chota Mufti Bakkar inside Moche Gate when it caved in.

As a result, the five family members were trapped under the debris. The explosion created panic and terror in the area. Upon being informed, a large number of locals and its surrounding areas gathered at the spot and started the rescue operation. Rescue workers were unable to bring in heavy equipment to remove the rubble or pull out the injured under the debris.

Rescue teams, police officials and others also reached the spot and started rescue operation. “Rescue teams are using the latest technology and life locators to identify the victims trapped inside, and have evacuated one child so far,” said a rescue official.

Only seven-year-old Shabbir was pulled out of the debris alive and shifted immediately into a nearby hospital.

He is stated to be in stable condition. Later, rescuers pulled out the bodies of Ghulam Abbas, his wife Marrium and their two sons after several hours of hectic efforts.

According to Rescue 1122, the house collapsed due to its dilapidated condition inside Mochi Gate. “The area is congested and the rescue officials also faced difficulties in operation due to congested streets.”

The locals said that the Walled City Authority introduced a new law dealing with the construction of new houses, especially inside the old city areas. They said that nobody was allowed to demolish or repair their dilapidated houses without obtaining permission from Walled City Authority.

They also said that if any person bribed the officials, they were allowed to start the construction work immediately.

“If people don’t bribe the Walled City Authority official, they are not allowed to demolish or repair their houses. This was not the only dilapidated house in the area. There are dozens of other houses that require immediate repairs. More innocent citizens can die if the government and departments concerned do not take immediate action,” the locals said.

They added that WCLA Building Control cell should take necessary action against the damaged or dangerous buildings by issuing notices to evacuate them.

These buildings should be repaired to avoid any untoward situations and incident despite of all other issues, they said.

According to a published report, 182 buildings have been identified for demolishing and the decision about the safety status of 123 buildings is pending with the committee. A total of 140 buildings are to be repaired out of 445 dangerous buildings. In a report issued in June, 178 buildings were identified for demolition and 131 for repair.

Published in Daily Times, December 7^th 2017.