The residential block crumbled shortly after 10:00 a.m. on Friday in the impoverished Lyari neighborhood of Karachi, which was once plagued by gang violence and considered one of the most dangerous areas in Pakistan, AFP reported.
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 12 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 said.
All six members of 70-year-old Jumho Maheshwari’s family were at his flat on the first floor when he left for work early in the morning.
“Nothing is left for me now – my family is all trapped and all I can do is pray for their safe recovery,” he said on Friday afternoon.
Another resident, Maya Sham Jee, said her brother’s family was also trapped under the rubble.
“It’s a tragedy for us. The world has been changed for our family,” she said.
MA/PR
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