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ISLAMABAD: The government of Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh said on Monday the director general of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) had been suspended after a residential building collapsed in the provincial capital of Karachi last week, killing 27 people.

The suspension comes as part of a broader crackdown ordered by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, who has also directed the registration of a police case (FIR) and promised “ruthless action” against those responsible for the collapse.

The five-story apartment block in the neighborhood of Lyari crumbled on Friday morning, with residents reporting ominous cracking sounds moments before it came down. Rescue operations concluded on Sunday after three days of digging through debris.

Authorities had previously said the building had been declared unsafe, and eviction notices were issued between 2022 and 2024. However, some landlords and residents told media they had never received any such notices.

“The chief minister today suspended the DG Sindh Building Control Authority,” Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said at a press briefing on Monday, referring to Muhammad Ishaque Khuhro who was appointed in February this year.

“Whichever building control authority personnel were involved in this, who had direct responsibility, they were suspended by the local government minister on the first day.”

Memon added that the chief minister had ordered the home minister to immediately register an FIR, adding: “Whoever is involved in this, strict action should be taken.”

He said a fact-finding report had been ordered and must be submitted within two days. An initial committee had already been formed, but its scope had now been expanded to include the Karachi commissioner and other senior officials.

“As soon as the committee submits its report, ruthless action will be taken,” Memon said.

Building collapses are common in Pakistan due to poor construction practices, aging infrastructure and lax enforcement of regulations. Karachi, a city of more than 20 million, is especially vulnerable due to unregulated urban sprawl and widespread illegal construction.

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.