Karachi bridge collapse leaves four dead, several injured

[Moin91]

KARACHI: A bridge of Northern Bypass at Paracha Chowk in Shershah area of the metropolis, which was opened by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on 6 August 2007, collapsed here Saturday, killing at least four people, injuring several others while trapping an unknown number of people under the debris.

"Four people have died and over a dozen were wounded in the collapse," southern port city police official Khalid Hameed said, adding that several vehicles were trapped in the debris.

However, a person trapped in the debris of the bridge was miraculously rescued. According to Geo News correspondent two dead bodies and three wounded persons have been brought to Civil Hospital Karachi, while four injured have been transferred to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and one inured was shifted to Murhsid hospital.

Rescuers were trying to clear the wreckage to retrieve injured and survivors amid fears the death toll could rise, they said.

Witnesses said a portion of the bridge known as Northern Bypass fell with a huge bang while traffic was on it.

"It created such a huge sound that we thought it was an earthquake," Zahid Khan, a resident of the area said.

Karachi City Nazim Mustapha Kamal said the authorities were investigating the cause of the blast. The bridge was built by the state-run National Highway Authority.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz phoned Governor Sindh Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad to seek details of Karachi bridge collapse, which has left at least four people dead, several injured and an unknown number of people have been trapped in the debris.

The Prime Minister directed Ishrat to take no stone unturned in the relief and rescue activities to help the victims. The injured people should be provided with proper medical care, he directed.

Shaukat Aziz also directed PM Inspection Committee to probe into the incident to ascertain the cause.

Chief minister Sindh Dr. Ghulam Arbab Rahim has expressed deep concern over the tragic incident of the collapse of a part of the northern by-pass bridge in Shershah and said that the persons involved cannot be pardoned.

He said that an impartial investigation of the incident would be made.

Karachi bridge collapse leaves four dead, several injured

 

[Moin91]

PM orders probe into Shershah bridge collapse


ISLAMABAD: Prime minister Shaukat Aziz, expressing concern over incident of the collapse of the bridge in Karachi today, has ordered the investigation of its substandard construction.

The prime minister has directed federal minister for communications Shamim Siddiqui to ensure the stern action against the responsible persons.

He expressed deep sorrow over the loss of precious human lives in the tragic incident.

The prime minister phoned the governor and chief minister of Sindh and directed them to provide immediate help to the affected families and wounded persons.

 

[Moin91]

Karachi bridge collapse

 

[PakistaniPatriot]

Mistakes happen. its a good thing that not a lot of lives were lost. The bridge can be rebuilt better. Its a lesson for all.

 

[EagleEyes]

There is a lot of construction going on in Pakistan, some projects are given to the private industries. It may be possible that poor material is being used to keep the high margin in the right pocket. The government of Pakistan must issue standards for building up of roads and bridges. You will notice, some new roads better than others, and some not too good. Its all depends on the companies making them.

 

[Cheetah786]

PM orders probe into Shershah bridge collapse


ISLAMABAD: Prime minister Shaukat Aziz, expressing concern over incident of the collapse of the bridge in Karachi today, has ordered the investigation of its substandard construction.

The prime minister has directed federal minister for communications Shamim Siddiqui to ensure the stern action against the responsible persons.

He expressed deep sorrow over the loss of precious human lives in the tragic incident.

The prime minister phoned the governor and chief minister of Sindh and directed them to provide immediate help to the affected families and wounded persons.

He needs to investigate to find out who is responsible.last i checked he is a prime minister of the country.he should have known in less then 5 minutes who is responsible and arrests should have been made right then and there.

Mistakes happen. its a good thing that not a lot of lives were lost. The bridge can be rebuilt better. Its a lesson for all

If some one is lost there life cause ones mistake its no longer a mistake is a murder.using faulty material to build a bridge.knowing very well it will not last isn't a mistake its a murder.put it any way you like it.then ones responsible should be made to pay huge fines to a point where they have no money left.and should be put in jail for remainder of there life.

guaranteed no other bridges will ever fall again in Pakistan.

 

[Lahori paa jee]

The bridge was inaugurated on August 6th, 2007 by non other than Mushy himself. It came down in less than a month.

 

[voiceofaa]

The bridge was inaugurated on August 6th, 2007 by non other than Mushy himself. It came down in less than a month.

These clips are about to expose the idiotic,disgusting and biased reporting of Aaj TV, their reporters should learn some lessons from BBC who got the news on air within 30 minutes alongwith complete facts and figures that the said project was of National Highway Authority (NHA) and contractors were National Logistic Cell (NLC) but Aaj TV reporters said in their coverage that this project was by City District Government (CDGK) Karachi and they are responsible for the incident, the fact is CDGK even don't have the design of this bridge which had so many flows in it.

Instead of mourning and praying, this biased channel was instructed to defame the efforts of CDGK.

Shame on them !

An overpass has collapsed in the Pakistani city of Karachi tipping cars onto a street below, crushing other vehicles underneath and killing at least two people, police and rescue officials said.

Television pictures showed at least two cars and a cart crushed under the huge slab of concrete and there were fears more dead could be under the collapsed bridge.

"We can see some vehicles under the rubble but it's difficult to say how many people are trapped," said Karachi police chief Azhar Farooqi.

"A trailer, a tanker and a police van came down with the bridge and fell on vehicles on the road below," he said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the collapse of the overpass in the outskirts of the city. The overpass was only opened two months ago, Dawn Television said.

Rescue workers brought in heavy lifting equipment and crowds of onlookers gathered near the scene where huge parts of the flyover hung precariously over the road.

Many bypasses and flyovers have been built in Pakistan's biggest city in recent years in an attempt to ease traffic gridlock.

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