PAKISTAN: Death toll rises to eight in Lahore factory collapse, many still trapped

Record ID: 216331

  • Title: PAKISTAN: Death toll rises to eight in Lahore factory collapse, many still trapped
  • Date: 7th February 2012
  • Summary: CLOSE OF HANDS PULLING BODY FROM UNDERNEATH THE RUBBLE RESCUE WORKERS CARRYING AWAY BODY OF A BOY ON STRETCHER AND CHANTING "GOD IS GREATEST" VARIOUS OF A WOMAN'S DEAD BODY TRAPPED IN RUBBLE AS WORKERS TRY TO CLEAN DEBRIS RESCUE WORKERS AND RESIDENTS CARRYING BODY ON STRETCHER
  • Embargoed: 22nd February 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan, Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Disasters
  • Reuters ID: LVAA1XSD7SU5D8I6T3UNS5NUVR3Y
  • Story Text: A three-storey factory collapsed on Monday (February 6) in the Pakistani city of Lahore after a gas explosion, killing at least eight people and trapping dozens, emergency officials said.
    Rescue workers and residents were shifting rubble by hand as they pulled out bodies from underneath the rubble and searched for survivors.
    Meanwhile authorities moved a large crane and other equipment to the site.
    An emergency official at the site told Reuters by telephone that the factory had completely collapsed along with two houses next to it. He said that narrow streets were preventing heavy rescue machinery from reaching the area.
    A civil defence official, said eight people had died, including a 10-year-old boy, and 12 survivors had been pulled out of the rubble.
    "Twelve are the survivors, eight people are dead. We have also hired a private firm to lift the rubble with the help of heavy jacks. We are trying our best to complete this operation as early as possible,"said Zahid Hamid, Deputy District Officer of civil defence in Lahore.
    Most of the trapped labourers were males aged between 14 and 23. Seventeen women and girls were also in the factory, which produced veterinary medical products, when it crumbled. The death toll was expected to rise.
    Anxious relatives looked for their loved ones.
    "He is my brother-in-law who came down here at 8 o' clock in the morning. Since then, we don not know his whereabouts,"said Imran, holding a picture of his missing brother-in-law who worked at the factory.
    The incident is likely to raise fresh questions about Pakistan's industrial safety. Building and zoning regulations are weak and often not enforced, critics say.
    A senior city official said the factory should not have been operating.
    Pakistan's government is often described by opponents as too corrupt and inept to tackle an array of problems, from struggling industries to Taliban insurgents who carry out suicide bombings across the South Asian nation.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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