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Building collapse kills 15 in Pakistan

However, a few of the relatives of workers believed to be trapped were pressuring the government to speed up the rescue operation.

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Rescue workers digging for survivors with construction equipment have recovered 40 injured people so far, said Mohammed Younis Bhatti, an information officer with Edhi Rescue Services.

The injured were being shifted to hospitals and the bodies to the morgue and that’s all.

On the instruction of Punjab Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif best medical facilities were being provided to the injured at Jinnah Hospital, Sharif Medical City Hospital and Lahore General Hospital.

“I have heard about natural disaster affect on the building, but according to labourers the owner continued to build an extension”, he told reporters.

Almost 100 survivors have been pulled from the wreckage of the factory, which made shopping bags 20km south of the city of Lahore, but rescuers say scores of workers had been crowded into the building’s basement.

The Sundar Industrial Estate, established to encourage local and foreign investment many years ago, houses several factories and industries in the Lahore’s suburb. “The search and rescue operation is still on”. However, the use of heavy machinery was halted until sunrise.

“Army engineers have been immediately moved for the rescue operation”, the text message from the military as quoted by the Reuters.

Another employee, 18-year-old Mohamed Irfan, said from his hospital bed that the workers were “mostly” aged between 14 and 25. “I heard people screaming and shouting for help”.

More than 200 workers were inside the building when it caved in.

BBC reported from the scene that two floors of the building were under being used as a factory to make plastic bags for packing 50-kilogram sacks of sugar, rice and other staples, with construction ongoing on other floors. “We however, ran outside to save ourselves”, Shah added.

As per reports, cracks had developed in the building after the massive quake on October 26 following which the government had asked the owner to fix the building.

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The collapse happened in an industrial area of Lahore in a building that was undergoing construction on its fourth floor, said Salman Rafique, a health adviser in Punjab province. He said more than 150 labourers were working in the factory at the time of the incident.

Pakistan factory collapse: At least 10 dead and dozens trapped after roof