MULTAN: As many as seven people including a woman died and 68 were injured in Mianchunnu, Khanewal district, on Sunday when the roof of a seminary collapsed under the weight of women participating in a Qul ceremony.

The deceased were identified as Shahnaz Bibi, Pir Bakhsh of Tulamba, Ghulam Muhammad of Muaza Haidarabad, Shaaban of Chak No 131/15-L, Baba Bashir of Chak No56/8-R, Zaffar and Iqbal.

According to eyewitnesses and police, during Quran Khawani (recitation of the Holy Quran) for the deceased tehsil president of officially banned Ahl-i-Sunnat Wul Jamaat (ASWJ), Maulana Rab Nawaz Abid, at Madressah Hunain Ibn-i-Ali in Rehmant Colony, the roof of the seminary hall collapsed. As a result some 100 people were trapped under the rubble.

According to an eyewitness, at the event seating arrangements for male participants were made in the hall while women were on its rooftop.

He said the old hall roof suddenly caved in under the weight of women who were attending the ceremony in a large number.

The Rescue 1122 teams with the help of locals and police pulled out survivors trapped under the rubble and shifted them to local tehsil headquarters hospital.

Khanewal District Police Officer Khanewal however claimed that five people were died in the incident.

According to THQ hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Abdul Sattar, out of total 68 people who were shifted to the hospital, four succumbed to their injuries. Similarly, he said, two of the nine injured who were transported to the Nishtar Hospital, Multan, due to their critical condition, died.

He said the injured shifted to the Nishtar Hospital included Mumtaz Bibi of Chak No56/15-L, Manzooran Bibi, Mumtaz Bibi of Mauza Haidarabad, Lakhan Bibi, Hanifan Bibi, Hajran Bibi, Hafiz Ramzan, Bakhtawar Bibi and Rafiq.

Meanwhile, taking notice of the incident, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif directed the District Coordination Officer Zahid Saleem Gondal to monitor the treatment of the injured shifted to the Nishtar Hospital.

The DCO directed the hospital administration to provide free of cost medicines and treatment to the injured.