Pakistan army soldiers take part in rescue work following the collapse of a building in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015. The factory building under construction in an industrial area on the outskirts of Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore collapsed on Wednesday, killing many workers and injuring dozens, officials said. AP
ISLAMABAD — A factory building under construction in an industrial area on the outskirts of Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore collapsed on Wednesday, killing at least 10 workers and injuring dozens, officials said.
Rescue official Jam Sajjad Hussain said emergency teams were using heavy machinery to pull out bodies and survivors as dozens remained trapped under the rubble.
“We have been informed that about 200 laborers were present inside the building when it suddenly collapsed,” he said.
State-run Pakistani TV said rescuers transported 45 injured to different hospitals in the area. TV footage showed rescuers and residents scrambling to remove the rubble. A government official, Mohammad Usman, said rescuers were handling the situation with great care to try and save as many lives as possible.
The military said it was flying in a team of engineers and experts to Lahore to take part in the rescue.
The cause of the building collapse was not immediately clear. It came over a week after a magnitude-7.5 earthquake hit Pakistan, killing 273 people and damaging nearly 75,000 homes across the country.