KARACHI: At least six people were killed on Friday when a multi-storey residential building collapsed in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, police said, the latest in a series of deadly structural failures in the country’s largest metropolis.

Local media reported the building, located in Karachi’s densely populated Lyari neighborhood, housed several families and multiple residents were still believed to be trapped under the rubble.

Television footage showed volunteers and rescue workers digging through the debris for survivors.

“So far, six bodies have been recovered from the debris, while several people are still trapped underneath. Rescue operations are currently ongoing,” Arif Aziz, a senior superintendent of police, told Arab News.

There was no immediate comment from the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) — which regulates construction in the city — on whether the building had previously been declared unsafe.

Karachi, home to over 20 million people, has long faced a crisis of unregulated urban expansion, with illegal construction, aging infrastructure and weak enforcement contributing to frequent building collapses.

According to the SBCA’s own reports and official data published in local media, more than 80 people have been killed in building collapses in Karachi since 2020, including incidents in Gulbahar, Lyari, Qur’angi, Shah Faisal Colony and North Nazimabad.

In one of the worst such disasters in recent years, a five-storey residential building collapsed in Lyari’s Koyla Godam area in June 2020, killing at least 25 people and injuring dozens. In April 2024, a three-storey structure came down in North Nazimabad, killing one person and wounding four others. In October 2023, a building collapse in Shah Faisal Colony left five dead.

Despite repeated tragedies, officials have been criticized for failing to crack down on unsafe buildings and prosecute those responsible for unauthorized or substandard construction.

The SBCA has previously stated it lacks resources to inspect thousands of buildings across Karachi, while citizens have alleged widespread corruption and political interference in the issuance of permits.