The death toll in the roof collapse at Karachi’s Pearl-Continental Hotel increased to two on Friday after a man succumbed to his injuries at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).
On Thursday night, one person was killed and three others injured after the ceiling of the five-star hotel caved in on top of them. Eyewitnesses said the roof collapsed a little after 11pm, triggering panic in the hotel, which had a moderate number of visitors at the time of the incident.
Videos and images shared on social media showed rubble covering the whole lobby of the hotel. Seconds after the incident, all entrances to the hotel were closed and visitors evacuated through two exits.
Afterwards, ambulances, vehicles of charity organisations, fire tenders, police and Rangers personnel reached the site.
According to a press release issued by the police, 52-year-old Raees Ahmed died on spot, while three people Nafeesa Raees, Narghis Arshad and Syed Shah Faraz were moved to the hospital.
However, on Friday morning, an Edhi official told that Faraz had fallen victim to his injuries and passed away.
A police spokesman confirmed to Dawn.com that an FIR of the incident has not yet been registered. He said that the incident occurred inside the Marcopolo Hall at the hotel where an event was under way.
“A number of retailers and dealers were attending it,” he added. South Senior Superintendent of Police Asad Raza said that police had asked the city administration to initiate an inquiry in order to ascertain the exact cause of the incident from the Sindh Building Control Authority or other relevant experts.”So far, no private complainant has approached police for registering a FIR,” he said.
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