BRT Red Line structure collapses in Karachi, killing one person — Dawn

One person was killed in Karachi, Pakistan, when an unfinished structure of the BRT Red Line project collapsed. The incident occurred on October 1 near the Baitul Mukarram mosque in the Gulshan-i-Iqbal area on University Road, Dawn reports.

Collapse circumstances

Rescue 1122 spokesperson Hassanul Haseeb Khan said that information about the structure’s collapse was received at around 5:30 a.m. According to him, the structure had been installed for the construction of a U-turn, and the cause of the collapse has not yet been established.

Rescuers arrived at the scene within three minutes of receiving the report. The body of the deceased was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. The victim’s identity could not immediately be established.

Initially, Rescue 1122 assumed that the deceased was a security guard because his clothing bore the words “security guard” and he had a whistle with him. Later, BRT project representatives told rescuers that the man was not their guard. The service spokesperson suggested that the deceased may have been passing by the structure or sleeping beneath it.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Project delays

Construction of the Red Line continues despite delays. Work resumed in November 2025 after a number of obstacles were removed following the intervention of the chief minister of Sindh province. Last week, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said that authorities were working to complete the current work and restore traffic on University Road.

The approximately 27-kilometre BRT line is to run from Malir Halt to Numaish via University Road. The project was announced in 2017 with an initial cost of around 79 billion Pakistani rupees.

Construction began in early 2022. The project was initially scheduled for completion in 2023, then the deadline was moved to 2024, and later to the end of 2026. Officials cited disputes with contractors, work stoppages for safety reasons, rising construction costs due to the depreciation of the rupee, difficulties in acquiring land plots, relocating utilities, and coordination among project implementers as reasons for the delays.