At least seven bodies have been taken out from under the debris of a building that succumbed to the continuous rain in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.
According to local sources, a two-storey building caved in, leaving the inhabitants trapped under its rubble. Towards Tuesday small hours, bodies of seven people had been taken out of the debris and five severely bruised people were shifted to a nearby private hospital. The sources also added that Five of the seven people are critically wounded.
The incidents also occurred in Saddar Wah Cantt area of Munirabad.
Heavy showers started on Sunday morning and continued ever since forcing the local administration to declare ‘rain emergency’ and ring alarm sirens to alert the citizens living in low-lying areas to evacuate to safety.
Heavy machinery could not be used thus far as the pathways leading to the ill-fated building are too narrow to allow the machinery passage.
It should be mentioned here that the Rescue 1122 reported about the screams of a woman soliciting help for a child. Water bottles were tossed towards the direction of her sounds. Later on, the child was safely rescued.
The deceased include Mumtaz Bibi, Bagh Sultana, Saad Muhammed, Sadia, Sapna, Safia and Shumaila. Meantime, one-year Fatima, 11-year Wazir, 12-year Lubna and four-year Fahad have been pulled through and rushed to hospital.
The rescue operation of which several relief teams including Pakistan Army were a part, has been completed.
