Lahore police book tuition centre owners, contractor after roof collapse claims 14 lives
ONP Summary
A tutoring centre roof collapsed in Lahore's Kahna area on June 30, killing 14 children aged between 4 and 16 years. Several other children and at least one teacher sustained injuries. The centre was operating from an under-construction building, and authorities arrested the operator and another person. Rescue operations were concluded by late evening.
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LAHORE: Police have registered a case against a contractor and the owners of a tuition centre, the roof of which collapsed on Tuesday, resulting in the death of 14 children.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Operations Faisal Kamran also confirmed to Dawn that the owners and the contractor were nominated in the first information report (FIR).
The FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn, was registered on Tuesday under Sections 322 (manslaughter) and 337-H (punishment for hurt by rash or negligent act) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
It was registered at the Kahna police station on the complaint of a Lahore Metropolitan Corporation official, Kashif Aslam.
The complainant told police that he reached the site of the incident at around 5:15pm, where children were buried under the rubble following the roof collapse at the private tuition centre.
After rescue teams were subsequently called in, 14 children were found dead and six others with injuries, the FIR quoted him as saying.
According to the FIR, the tuition centre was being run in a house owned by individuals identified as Rehan, Faizan, Usman and Umar.
The FIR said Rehan’s wife was teaching students in one of the rooms of the centre and was also injured in the incident. Meanwhile, Rehan, Usman and Umar, along with a contractor identified as Umair, were putting soil onto the roof of the building, which was already in a dilapidated condition, it added.
“Due to their negligence and the extra load, the roof of the room collapsed,” the FIR stated.
Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi expressed sorrow at the loss of lives in a post on X and called for a thorough investigation into the incident.
On Tuesday, the Lahore police said two individuals, including the owner of the property, had been taken into custody as part of the initial investigation. They said that evidence was being collected and strict action would be taken against those found guilty of negligence.
DIG Operations Faisal Kamran said the contractor who constructed the house was among those detained.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz directed the police and district government authorities to determine the role of those individuals found responsible for the roof collapse, and consequently the deaths, for criminal proceedings.
Roof and building collapses are common across Pakistan, mainly due to poor safety standards and the use of substandard construction materials in the South Asian country of more than 240 million people.
On Monday, two minor sisters died and their cousin was injured when the boundary wall of their house collapsed in Alipur tehsil of Punjab’s Muzaffargarh district. Earlier this month, a roof of an under-construction room collapsed in Faisalabad’s Jaranwala tehsil, claiming the lives of three members of a family. ...