From Hope to Horror: 27 Perish in Pakistan’s Catastrophic Building Collapse

Rescue operations in Karachi, Pakistan, were nearing completion on Sunday following the collapse of a five-storey residential building that killed at least 27 people.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

According to officials, the apartment block crumbled around 10:00 a.m. on Friday in Lyari, one of Karachi’s most densely populated and historically troubled neighborhoods. Residents reported hearing ominous cracking sounds moments before the structure gave way.

“Most of the debris has now been cleared,” said Hassaan Khan, spokesperson for the government emergency service 1122, in a statement to AFP. He confirmed the death toll had reached 27 by Sunday morning and expressed hope that the operation would conclude by afternoon.

Authorities revealed that the building had previously been marked unsafe, and eviction notices were issued between 2022 and 2024. However, several residents and landlords claimed they never received the warnings.

Amid the wreckage, the anguish of families searching for loved ones remained palpable. “My daughter is still under the rubble,” 54-year-old Dev Raj told AFP on Saturday, his voice filled with sorrow. “She was my beloved daughter—so sensitive. She just got married six months ago.”

Incidents of building collapses are tragically frequent in Pakistan, a country of over 240 million people, largely due to weak enforcement of building codes, substandard construction materials, and poor infrastructure. Karachi, with a population exceeding 20 million, is particularly notorious for unsafe structures, illegal extensions, and widespread regulatory failures.

As rescue teams work through the final phase of recovery, the tragedy has reignited calls for stricter enforcement of safety regulations in the country’s construction sector.