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KARACHI: Pakistan rescuers have concluded a three day-long rescue operation, recovering 27 bodies from a building that collapsed in the mega port city of Karachi, officials said on Monday.

Residents reported hearing cracking sounds shortly before the apartment block crumbled around 10:00 am on Friday in Karachi’s impoverished Lyari neighborhood, which was once plagued by gang violence and considered one of the most dangerous areas in Pakistan.

“All the bodies trapped under the debris have been recovered, so the search operation has been called off,” the top government official in the district, Javed Nabi Khoso, told AFP.

“The total death toll stands at 27 people.”

Authorities said the building had been declared unsafe and eviction notices were sent to occupants between 2022 and 2024, but landlords and some residents told AFP they had not received them.

Twenty of the victims were Hindus, according to Sundeep Maheshewari, an activist in the minority community.

“Most of the families are very poor,” he told AFP.

Government official Khoso said that five out of more than 50 more dangerous buildings in his district have been evacuated since Saturday.

“The operation has been initiated and will continue until all such buildings are evacuated,” he said.

Roof and building collapses are common across Pakistan, mainly because of poor safety standards and shoddy construction materials in the South Asian country of more than 240 million people.

But Karachi, home to more than 20 million, is especially notorious for poor construction, illegal extensions, aging infrastructure, overcrowding, and lax enforcement of building regulations.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has warned of more downpours and flash floods across the country until July 10, with heavy rains killing at least 72 and injuring 130 in less than two weeks. 

In a press release issued on Sunday, the NDMA warned that the ongoing monsoon season is likely to trigger heavy rains and potential flooding in several parts until July 10. It said that flooding and increased water levels are expected in streams and rivers across Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan regions.

“Rivers including Chenab, Jhelum, Indus, Kabul, and Hunza may experience surges, with minor flooding expected at Marala and Qadirabad,” the NDMA report said. 

As per the disaster management authority’s latest situation report, at least 72 people have been killed and 130 injured across the country due to rain-related incidents since June 26. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has reported the highest number of deaths, 28, while 22 people have been killed in Punjab, 15 in Sindh and seven in Balochistan. 

Punjab reported 66 people injured from rain-related incidents, Sindh 34, KP 23, Azad Kashmir four and Balochistan three since June 26. The report said at least 161 houses had been damaged so far while 91 livestock had perished since June 26. 

The NDMA said 233 people were rescued in total, with the highest number of people rescued in KP, 115, Sindh 42, Punjab 31, Gilgit-Baltistan 25, Islamabad 15 and Balochistan five. 

Pakistan, home to over 240 million people, is consistently ranked among the countries most vulnerable to climate change. In 2022, record-breaking monsoon rains and glacier melt caused catastrophic floods that affected 33 million people and killed more than 1,700. The South Asian country has been the victim of irregular weather patterns recently that have ranged from heatwaves to droughts and torrential rains. 

Surging temperatures in the country’s mountainous north, especially in Gilgit-Baltistan, have accelerated glacier melt, compounding the risk of sudden floods and landslides in narrow valleys and near vulnerable glacial lakes.

The NDMA advises the public to stay indoors during thunderstorms, avoid unnecessary travel and keep children away from electricity poles and waterlogged areas.