PAKISTAN: The search and rescue operation at the site of a factory collapse in Lahore enters a fourth day as the number of people killed rises to 23.

Record ID: 216340

  • Title: PAKISTAN: The search and rescue operation at the site of a factory collapse in Lahore enters a fourth day as the number of people killed rises to 23.
  • Date: 10th February 2012
  • Summary: INJURED PEOPLE IN HOSPITAL MORE OF INJURED YOUNG PEOPLE IN HOSPITAL
  • Embargoed: 25th February 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan, Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: Accidents
  • Reuters ID: LVA9YQWSOOLL7TTJAQP202C922B8
  • Story Text: Emergency workers continued the search for survivors amid the rubble of a collapsed factory in the Pakistani city of Lahore on Thursday (February 9), as death toll climbed to 23, according to local news reports.
    A gas explosion on Monday (February 6) caused the three-storey factory to collapse, trapping inside dozens of labourers, mostly young boys aged 14 to 23.
    Work continued through the night on Wednesday (February 8) and the body of a woman was recovered in the early hours of Thursday morning.
    Two days after the building collapsed in the explosion, a man was pulled out alive after 48 hours under the rubble . The day before a 60-year-old woman has also been found alive.
    While hopes for finding people alive in the debris are dwindling, cranes and workers continued to search through the rubble for a fourth consecutive day.
    "About 15, 20 minutes earlier, we recovered a dead body of a female aged 30-32. Our operation is still continuing," said Noman Noor, the deputy director of Rescue 1122 on Thursday.
    "According to our latest record, we believe that about five people are still trapped in the rubble whose relatives are present here. We hope to find them alive or dead," he added.
    A factory attendant had told rescue teams there were 62 people inside the veterinary medical products factory when the blast happened.
    "My mother is here. I have been coming here for the last three days," said an unidentified woman who was still searching for her mother on Thursday.
    The incident is likely to raise fresh questions about Pakistan's industrial safety. Critics say building and zoning regulations are weak and often not enforced.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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