LAHORE – Two teen sisters were buried alive when a house collapsed during rainfall on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to seven in the City.
Similar mishaps wounded another seven people, rescue workers said on Wednesday. During the last couple of days, at least seven people were killed after the rain-hit buildings collapsed in different parts of the city.
In the first incident, two young sisters were killed and three other family members sustained multiple injuries when the rooftop of a rented house collapsed on them on the Walton Road in the Factory Area police limits. Four persons of a family also sustained serious wounds when the rooftop of their house caved in with a bang in the Green Town area.
According to rescue workers, the rooftop of a dilapidated house collapsed in the Koray Staff Officers Colony because recent wave of heavy rain in the town. Muhammad Abbas, said to a driver at a private company, was residing at the house along with his family on Rs5000 rent per month for the last three years.
On early Wednesday, the dilapidated building suddenly collapsed a few hours after Abbas had left the house for work.
The wife and children of the driver were sleeping in the two-room house when its rooftop caved in with a bang. The rescuer workers rushed to the site soon after the local residents disclosed the happening to the rescuers. The rescuers pulled out all the six family members with multiple injuries from the debris during the search and rescue operation. The injured were rushed to a local hospital, where Sonia, 19, and her younger sister, Miraj Bibi, 13, were pronounced dead. Kaneez Bibi, mother of the deceased sisters, and her children including Tayyaba, 12, Amna, 8, and Zain, 7, were being provided medical treatment in the intensive care unit of a local hospital till Wednesday night.
According to locals, the mother lost her mental balance after witnessing her daughters’ dead bodies when she was pulled out from the debris.
Many emotional scenes were witnessed as the father of the poor girls arrived back home soon after he was informed about the most tragic incident of his life. Several local residents were also seen in tears at the site when the rescuers were pulling out the wounded from the wreckage.  Police investigators told reporters at the disaster site that house owner, Muhammad Amir, was delaying the repair work of the rooftop that was in shabby condition for the last several months.