Lyari building collapse: Rescuers using heartbeat detector

in hope of reaching trapped people

By our correspondent

KARACHI: Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani has announced that the government is prepared to relocate residents of Karachi’s dilapidated buildings in order to save their lives following the recent building collapse in Lyari.

He said the occupants of dangerous buildings would be moved to alternative sites, if necessary.

Addressing an emergency press conference on Friday evening, he revealed that 588 buildings across Karachi had been declared hazardous, including 456 in District South, 107 of which were in Lyari Quarters alone.

“As a nation and as a society, we are collectively responsible for this latest tragedy,” Ghani said. He informed the media that a high-level inquiry committee had been formed under the local government special secretary to investigate the causes of the building collapse and determine responsibility.

He said the committee had been given three working days to submit its findings. In the meantime, the director, deputy director, building inspectors and other officials of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) in the affected district had been suspended.

Karachi Commissioner Syed Hassan Naqvi, SBCA Director General Ishaq Khuro, South Deputy Commissioner (DC) Javed Latif Khoso and other senior officials were also present at the media briefing.

Ghani confirmed that the structure in Lyari that collapsed had already been declared “extremely dangerous”. The first evacuation notice was issued on June 2, 2023, followed by four more notices on February 28, 2024; May 30, 2024; June 25, 2024; and June 2, 2025.

Despite repeated notices, residents refused to vacate the premises, with officials reportedly facing physical altercations during evacuation attempts, the minister said.

According to local officials, the building had 20 apartments. The South DC confirmed that six families were residing in the building at the time of the collapse. The area was soon engulfed in chaos and distress as relatives of those trapped rushed to the scene, some attempting to assist rescue workers inadvertently disrupting the operation.

To manage the crowd and secure the site, the Rangers and City Wardens were deployed to cordon off the area and prevent unauthorised access. Heavy machinery was brought in to clear the debris, and rescue personnel deployed a trapped person locator, a device capable of detecting heartbeats beneath the rubble, to identify survivors.

The device was used after each layer of debris is removed, making the process slow but meticulous. The authorities indicated that the rescue operation may take several more hours to complete.

Despite fatigue and challenging conditions, rescue workers continued the operation without breaks. Preparations were made to install floodlights to ensure that the operation could continue through the night.

A resident from Thatta whose aunt’s family lived on the fourth floor of the collapsed building said: “We don’t know how many are still inside. Some have been rescued, some have died. My aunt is in critical condition.”

Rescue officials noted that access to the site was hampered by blocked roads and poor mobile connectivity, which slowed initial response efforts. Local residents had already begun rescue attempts before professional teams arrived.

The building had first been surveyed on October 10, 2022, and was deemed structurally unsafe. Ghani dismissed allegations that the SBCA or the Sindh government failed to issue adequate warnings, terming such claims baseless. Of the 107 hazardous buildings in Lyari Quarters, 22 have been categorised as “extremely dangerous.” Fourteen of these have already been demolished, but in eight cases, including the one that collapsed, residents continued to resist eviction, he explained.

Highlighting the scale of the crisis, Ghani said District South was home to most of the city’s hazardous buildings, as it included the old city areas where unauthorised constructions were rampant. He criticised the political and media backlash that frequently followed eviction operations, saying: “Now the government has resolved to evacuate people even if it renders them temporarily homeless. We will also provide them with alternative accommodation.”

Ghani acknowledged the complex legal hurdles in evicting residents from old city buildings, many of which operate under the informal “pagri” rental system or were subdivided into multiple ownership units.

He warned that forced evictions often turned into political controversies and appealed to the citizens not to risk their lives or those of their families by continuing to reside in structurally compromised buildings.

He added that the government was willing to work with residents, building owners, and the SBCA to find long-term solutions. While criticising the role of corrupt officials, he also held buyers and estate agents partly responsible for promoting illegal constructions.

“Unfortunately, current laws do not allow for criminal prosecution of those who build illegal structures. But we are working on legislative amendments, which will soon be presented in the assembly,” he added.

Responding to a question, Ghani maintained that despite public perception, the Sindh local government department and SBCA had taken significant action against illegal buildings in recent months as FIRs had been filed, officials suspended or transferred, and demolition powers extended to the deputy commissioners and town administrations.

He was candid in acknowledging that the SBCA bore primary responsibility for demolishing illegal constructions, adding that he would not defend any negligence. However, he also pointed out that the government lacked the resources to provide alternative housing to the millions currently living in unsafe structures.

Regarding utility disconnections, Ghani said letters had been sent to K-Electric, SSGC and water corporation instructing them to cut off services to dangerous buildings. However, these directives were not implemented. He emphasised that even legal buildings should not be supplied utilities without obtaining complete no-objection certificates.

Earlier, speaking to the media on Friday during a visit to Lyari’s Baghdadi area where a five-storey building collapsed, the local government minister said a crackdown against illegal constructions in Karachi was in full swing.

He added that a concrete and strict policy would soon be formulated regarding hazardous structures in the city to safeguard human lives.

He monitored the ongoing rescue operations at the site of the building collapse near Baghdadi's Ath Chowk, and instructed the South deputy commissioner and rescue personnel to speed up the relief work, emphasising that the top priority must be rescuing those trapped under the debris.

He stated that immediate medical attention should be provided to the injured and all efforts must be made to clear the rubble as quickly as possible in case any survivors remained trapped underneath.

Ghani said he had immediately directed SBCA officials and senior rescue personnel to reach the scene and begin operations as soon as he was informed about the incident. Heavy machinery was also urgently dispatched to the site.

“If people evacuate after receiving notices, such tragedies can be prevented,” he said.

Commenting on the challenges faced by the authorities, Ghani said that forcibly evicting people from unsafe buildings was often met with criticism on humanitarian grounds. “However, if we are to save innocent lives, we may have to take tough decisions—valuing lives over roofs.”

He noted that in the light of this incident, the government was now compelled to consider whether preventing such tragedies might sometimes require displacing people from unsafe buildings, even if it meant removing their shelter.

Addressing another question, Ghani described illegal builders as a mafia operating across Karachi. “We’ve taken tough action against them, lodged FIRs and identified culprits. But again, without public cooperation, stopping this menace is difficult.”

He urged the citizens to stop buying homes in illegal structures, arguing that reducing demand was the key to curbing illegal construction. “I’ve said repeatedly that we need to eliminate the feasibility of such unlawful buildings.”

He clarified that the core issue was not high-rise buildings per se, but rather the unauthorised and unsafe construction practices. “The size and location of plots determine what kind of building is legally permissible. We need to ensure not just legality, but also the quality of materials used.”