KARACHI: 13 people lost their lives as a result of the landslide that buried shanties in Gulistan-e-Jauhar area in the wee hours of Tuesday.
According to rescue services, seven children and three women were among the 13 bodies dug out from the rubble. The dead belonged to the southern Punjab, said the local residents.
Rangers’ personnel also took part in the rescue effort that continued for hours till morning.
Sources said the landslide that occurred at 2 AM buried three shanties located on a plot in Block 1 of Gulistan-e-Jauhar area. Most of the people living in the shanties were asleep when the incident happened.
The rescue operation suffered a long delay, as the heavy machinery from the concerned departments arrived at least two and half hours after the incident.
Commissioner Karachi, Shoaib Siddiqui, talking to Geo News said the time lag between the occurrence of an incident and starting of a rescue operation will have to be minimised.
The China cutting revealed after investigation, in the plot where the incident occurred, that actually belongs to Ayaz Soomro, who is presently a member of National Assembly and former MPA a leader of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
Reprots said that Ayaz Soomro the son of Khuda Bakhsh Soomro had received the plot number 64/13 in 1995. He was also former Law provincial Minister in Sindh.
The then Sindh chief minister had allotted 11 plots from his discretionary quota and Ayaz had become one of the allottees.
Geo News also learnt that the plot had originally been allotted for the purpose of a park but was eventually converted into a parking lot for personal purposes, while a gate was put and locked for outsiders.
Following the developments, Commissioner Karachi, Shoaib Siddiqui has announced a ban on any further construction plans in hilly areas of the city.