Fresh Danger
A four-storey residential building in Karachi’s densely populated Lyari Baghdadi area began to collapse on Tuesday, triggering panic and chaos among its occupants.
As parts of the structure showed visible signs of failure, including a crumbling staircase and a visibly shifting pillar, residents frantically evacuated the building, screaming for help and fearing a total collapse.
Eyewitnesses described the moment as terrifying, with families rushing out in panic, some barefoot and carrying children, as cracks spread across the structure.
Residents immediately began recording videos on their mobile phones to document the condition of the building and sent them to the Lyari Town administration and Rescue 1122 in a desperate appeal for urgent assistance.
Emergency response teams from the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) arrived swiftly on the scene. They conducted a rapid evacuation operation, successfully clearing the building of all occupants. Fortunately, there were no casualties reported, thanks to the timely response and evacuation efforts.
The building, which was constructed in the year 2000 on a 60-square-yard plot, housed two residential flats on each floor, along with makeshift housing units on the rooftop.
According to residents, the structure had been showing signs of wear for some time, but no formal inspections had been conducted. Critically, the building had not been declared hazardous or structurally unsound by the SBCA prior to the incident.
Local residents expressed outrage and disappointment over what they describe as a continuing pattern of negligence by civic authorities. “We kept raising concerns about the condition of the building, but no one came to inspect it,” one resident lamented.
Others criticized the lack of routine assessments by the SBCA, especially in older neighborhoods like Lyari, which are dotted with aging buildings constructed decades ago — many without modern safety standards.
This latest incident adds to a growing list of structural failures in Karachi, raising alarms about the state of urban infrastructure and the urgent need for systematic inspections. Lyari, in particular, with its dense population and outdated residential buildings, remains at high risk of similar events.
Authorities have since cordoned off the building and are expected to carry out a detailed structural assessment. Meanwhile, displaced residents have been left to find temporary shelter as they await official decisions on the building’s fate.
