Doctor, retired police officer killed in Karachi as wall of under-construction hospital collapses

A doctor and former police officer were killed while a woman was critically injured on Monday when a wall of an under-construction hospital collapsed on the outskirts of Karachi, authorities said.

Rescue 1122 official Hassaan Khan told Dawn.com that the owners had acquired a plot adjacent to a hospital in Shah Latif Town, where construction work for its expansion was underway.

“The wall suddenly collapsed, injuring people sitting or passing nearby, resulting in the death of Dr Rasool Bux Abro, 65, and Khadim Husain Lashari, 65, a retired police inspector,” Khan said.

Khan confirmed that both the deceased were owners of the hospital.

A passerby woman identified as Ruqia Irfani was also injured in the accident. She was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), where one of her legs was amputated and her condition was said to be serious, Khan said.

He added that her minor child suffered bruises and was provided first aid medical treatment on the spot.

Khan was of the opinion that the incident occurred due to the unplanned construction of the hospital.

“It was being connected with existing hospital structure through a wall and probably, its material was not stable enough, resultantly it collapsed all of a sudden,” he said.

Unsafe construction practices and similar building patterns are common in many parts of Karachi and Pakistan’s other large cities. Single-storeyed structures are converted into multiple-level buildings.

Last year, 27 people were killed after a residential building in Karachi’s Gulbahar area had fallen on two adjacent structures. A preliminary investigation suggested that the builder had allegedly carried out major excavation work at the foundation and tried to erect additional pillars to support the existing pillars. He did it to strengthen the building structure and prevent it from collapsing.