Pakistani rescuers have pulled more than 100 survivors from the rubble of a collapsed factory and are searching for dozens of others believed still trapped in a disaster that has killed at least 19, officials said Thursday.
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A teenager was rescued after 50 hours trapped under the rubble of a four-story factory which collapsed this week in eastern Pakistan, officials said Friday.
The four storey building had many workers sleeping on the third floor when the building failed.
Noting that the focus of the operation was on the search for survivors, a top administration official said that 102 people had been rescued.
The retrieved injured and dead labourers have been shifted to Sharif Medical City Hospital, Jinnah Hospital, General Hospital and other nearby hospitals by a large number of ambulances taking part in the rescue operation soon after the tragic incident.
According to rescue workers, more than 24 hours later, a few of the people still trapped inside have been able to make desperate calls on their cellphones. “There was no union in this big factory, which could have raised the workers’ voice and saved lives”, said Kahlid Mahmood, Director of the Labour Education Foundation in Lahore.
More than 200 workers were believed to be inside the building on the outskirts of Lahore when it collapsed overnight Wednesday.
Many of those trapped were in the building’s basement, Reuters adds.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Army announced that it was deploying specialist search teams and engineers to the factory. It was not clear what caused the collapse but several buildings have been badly impacted by the 7.5 magnitude quake that shook the country on October 26.
But provincial spokesman Zaeem Qadri told reporters that progress was slow because the factory was at the end of a narrow lane making it hard for excavators to reach the site.
The left wing Awami Worker’s Party shared a post on its Facebook page denouncing the local government for neglecting safety regulations for private sector businesses. The owner of the factory was also among those dead.
At least 26 people were killed.
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In September 2012, the Ali Enterprise Factory near Karachi in Sindh Province caught on fire in the worst-ever industrial disaster in Pakistan, resulting in the deaths of almost 300 workers.
