At least 16 killed after building collapses in Pakistan following blast
More than a dozen people were injured when families began preparing sehri
Karachi: A building collapse caused by an explosion in Pakistan’s southern megacity of Karachi killed at least 16 people on Thursday, including children, officials said.
More than a dozen people were injured in the incident in the Soldier Bazaar neighbourhood of Karachi at around 4:00 am, when Muslim families start preparing sehri, the pre-sunrise meal eaten during Ramadan.
“Sixteen people, including women and children, have been killed and 13 others injured,” the provincial rescue agency’s spokesman Hassan Khan told AFP.
The three-storey building located in the crowded neighbourhood collapsed after an “unknown” explosion, he said.
“Apparently it was a gas explosion, but the investigation will reveal the actual cause of the incident,” senior city official Nasrullah Abbasi told AFP.
Last year in July, 27 people were killed and 10 injured after a five-storey building collapsed in Karachi’s impoverished area of Lyari.
Around 600 buildings were declared dangerous in Karachi by the government.
