Sawt Falasteen - At least 16 killed after building collapses in Pakistan following blast

More than a dozen people were injured in the incident in the Soldier Bazaar neighbourhood of Karachi at around 4:00 am, when Muslim families start preparing sehri, the pre-sunrise meal eaten during Ramadan.

"Sixteen people, including women and children, have been killed and 13 others injured," the provincial rescue agency's spokesman Hassan Khan told AFP.

The three-storey building located in the crowded neighbourhood collapsed after an "unknown" explosion, he said.

"Apparently it was a gas explosion, but the investigation will reveal the actual cause of the incident," senior city official Nasrullah Abbasi told AFP.

Last year in July, 27 people were killed and 10 injured after a five-storey building collapsed in Karachi's impoverished area of Lyari.

Around 600 buildings were declared dangerous in Karachi by the government.

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, ageing infrastructure, overcrowding, and lax enforcement of building regulations.

J.AbuHassan--SF-PST