Altaf Hamid Rao.
MIRPUR (AJK): (Parliament Times) Rescue workers comprising Pak Army Jawans succeeded in recovering another body of the victims of Chakswari Marriage Hall collapse disaster here after hectic 40 hours the mid last night Mirpur AJK’s Chakswari town.
Body of the ill-fated deceased – young Raheem Roopayal, son of the deceased owner of the collapsed marriage hall Nadeem Roopayal, was recovered mid night of Saturday and Sunday, authorities confirmed.
After recovery of the body of unfortunate Raheem, the death toll in the history’s worst mega building collapse tragedy in AJK, rose to two besides injuring of 19 others so far, said Mirpur Division Commissioner Ch. Muhammad Raqeeb while talking to AJK’s Special Correspondent Altaf Hamid Rao on Sunday.
The rescue teams of Pak Army and the 1122 are still engaged in rescue operation for the recovery of the missing body of laborer from the rubble of the 05-storey Roopayal Marriage Hall in adjoining town Chaksawari, about 45 km north of Mirpur divisional headquarter.
The unfortunate Raheem Roopayal was laid to rest his ancestral graveyard in Chakswari in presence of thousands of his survivors who attended the funeral of the ill-fated young man.
Earlier, Nadeem Roopayal, owner of the damaged marriage hall building, who had also lost his life in the disaster, was laid to rest in his native village graveyard in presence of thousands of the mourners on Saturday.
The 05 storey building of Roopayal marriage-cum-banquet hall had caved-in in Chakswari town about 45 KM from Mirpur Divisional Headquarter of Azad Jammu Kashmir on Friday morning, leaving about 21 dof the persons including the ill-fated owner Nadeem Roopayal, his son Raheem and 19 others, including the staffers of the marriage hall and labourers. trapped in the rubble.
The Commissioner said that 19 of the persons were rescued so far from the fully-collapsed mega structure of the marriage hall including four in seriously injured condition.
As reported earlier, seriously injured manager of the marriage hall, identified as Waqar, has been shifted to the trauma center at Quaid-e-Azam Hospital in Islamabad. Besides 03 other grievously injured persons were admitted in Mirpur Divisional HQ Teaching Hospital where their condition is stated to be out of danger.
The five-storey building complex of Roopayal Marriage cum Banquet hall had collapsed, all of sudden, at about 11.30 a.m on Friday when the renovation work in the building was in progress.
Rescue teams belonging to Pak Army, SDMA, State Disaster Management Authority, Rescue 1122, civil defense, local volunteers and police immediately rushed the scene of occurrence to join the relief works to rescue over 20 of the victims from the rubble.
The victims including owner of the ill-fated building – Choudhry Nadeem Roopayal and his son Raheem Nadeem who lost their lives in the tragedy after having been trapped in the collapsed structure of the building .
The basic cause of the building collapse tragey could not be ascertained so far. Further investigations are in progress. Ends