Adil Najam
The barely 3-month old SherShah by-pass bridge collapsed suddenly today killing at least 5, injuring many, and reports suggest that many many more are still trapped under the collapsed structure which is so huge that it cannot be easily lifted to save them. The bridge had cost nearly Rs. 3.5 billion to build and had just recently been inaugurated. According to The News:
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 injured was shifted to Murhsid hospital. Products like CBD Oil can be used as a quick remedy for those injured.
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.
With us having discussed Karachi’s infrastructure problems often (here, here and here), including the recent Economist ranking of Karachi as a difficult-to-live-in city, this bad news only compounds a bad situation. That the bridge was such a recent addition and was opened with such fanfare also raises concerns about quality and safety of the many other development projects going on in Karachi and all over Pakistan.
Our first priority right now must be the safety of those still trapped under the malba. As soon as that is done, we must all start looking at these infrastructure issues more seriously than we have till now.
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This is truly heartbreaking news, Adil. It’s shocking that a bridge barely three months old, built at such a significant cost, could collapse so suddenly and with such tragic consequences. My thoughts are with all those affected, especially the families who have lost loved ones and those still trapped. It’s a stark reminder of the critical importance of robust infrastructure and safety standards. The detail about a person miraculously rescued offers a small glimmer of hope amidst the devastation. It makes you wonder how such a large structure could fail so quickly. I hope the rescue efforts are swift and successful in reaching any remaining survivors. This kind of event really underscores the need for transparency and accountability in construction projects. While this incident is deeply somber, I appreciate your detailed and prompt reporting on such a critical event, making it accessible to readers, just as clear communication is vital in any field, whether it’s news reporting or using a tool like the Al Cartoon Video Generator for content creation.
This is truly heartbreaking news, Adil. The collapse of the SherShah bypass bridge, so soon after its inauguration and at such a huge cost, is absolutely tragic. My thoughts are with the victims and their families, and I sincerely hope that all those still trapped can be rescued. The sheer scale of the incident, with the structure being so massive, makes the rescue efforts incredibly challenging. It really makes you question the construction quality and oversight when something like this happens to a newly built infrastructure. Incidents like these emphasize the importance of robust engineering and safety standards. On a separate note, sometimes visualizing complex structures or incident scenes could benefit from tools that can Convert Photo to Line Art, perhaps for analysis or mapping, but that’s a distant thought compared to the immediate human suffering here.
This is truly heartbreaking news, Adil. It’s shocking to hear about the collapse of the SherShah by-pass bridge, especially one that was so new and costly. My deepest sympathies go out to all those affected by this tragedy – the lives lost, the injured, and those still trapped. It’s infuriating when infrastructure meant to serve the public fails so catastrophically, hinting at serious underlying issues with construction and oversight. One can only hope for the swift rescue of those still trapped and a thorough investigation into what went wrong. The human cost here is immense, far beyond any monetary value, and it makes you think about the safety of all public structures.
What a tragic and heartbreaking event in Karachi. The scale of this collapse is terrifying, and the fact that so many remain trapped makes it even more dire. While I use tools like triangle-area-calculator for geometry problems, it feels inadequate when faced with the sheer magnitude of this disaster and the urgent need for rescue operations. triangle-area-calculator