Building Collapse During Welfare Distribution in Pakistan Kills 8 Women

A tragic building collapse occurred in eastern Pakistan when over 100 women gathered to receive government welfare payments before a religious holiday. At least eight women died and more than 50 were injured when a shop's roof gave way under the weight of the crowd.

MULTAN, Pakistan — A deadly building collapse claimed the lives of at least eight women and left more than 50 others injured Monday when a shop’s roof caved in during a government welfare distribution in eastern Pakistan, according to police and emergency responders.

The tragedy unfolded in Rahim Yar Khan, located in Punjab province, when more than 100 women had assembled to receive government financial aid in preparation for Eid al-Fitr, the celebration that concludes the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Emergency worker Ashiq Mahmood explained that the structural failure occurred after the shop owner directed some women to climb onto the roof while others stayed inside the building, causing the roof to buckle under the excessive weight.

The women were there to collect funds from the Benazir Income Support Program, a government initiative honoring the late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who died in a 2007 assassination involving gunfire and explosives. This program distributes financial aid to millions of Pakistan’s poorest families, with eligible households receiving quarterly payments of 13,000 rupees, equivalent to approximately $45.

Such dangerous overcrowding incidents frequently happen throughout Pakistan during Ramadan, as government organizations, charitable groups, and private companies hand out food supplies and monetary assistance to impoverished families. A similar tragedy struck in 2023 when at least 11 women and children lost their lives in a deadly crowd surge at a Ramadan aid distribution facility in Karachi, where hundreds of people had rushed to obtain assistance outside a manufacturing plant.