Pakistan hunts for survivors as factory toll hits 19

LAHORE: Pakistani rescuers on Tuesday pulled more survivors and bodies from the rubble of a factory that collapsed in the city of Lahore, as the death toll rose to 19 after the disaster.

The three-storey building used to manufacture veterinary medicines came crashing down after a probable boiler and a gas cylinder explosion at the premises in the congested Multan Road area on Monday, police said.

There was jubilation more than 30 hours after the accident when an elderly woman aged about 70 was pulled out alive from the rubble. Rescue workers said they were also clearing a route to recover two boys also spotted alive.

Emergency teams spent night and day digging through the debris with their bare hands, increasingly desperate as cries for help started to recede from mostly women and children trapped beneath concrete slabs.

Workers and volunteers used everything they could — hammers, axes, chisels and shovels — to shift the rubble and pull out the injured, coated in dust.

“We hope to clear most of the rubble by tonight,” local rescue chief Rizwan Naseer told reporters, saying that workers were digging tunnels under the rubble to pull out more injured people and dead bodies.

“It is a very slow and difficult operation,” Naseer added, saying it took almost five hours to pull out two women alive overnight.

Police official Shoaib Khurram told AFP that 19 people had been killed. Among the dead were at least 11 women, three young girls and three boys.

The toll is thought likely to rise further with dozens still believed to be trapped under the concrete mass.

Police said the factory was illegal. Local residents said it had been shut down twice since 2008, but that the owners reopened the premises each time.

“The owners violated the court orders and broke the seals,” said top local administration official Ahad Cheema.

Most of those trapped under the rubble were believed to be women and children hired to package the medicines at Orient Labs (Private) Limited.

The factory spotlighted poor safety procedures among Pakistani manufacturers and the use of child labour.

The state-run Jinnah Hospital said it had received 31 injured people, seven of them still in the surgical ward which was smelly and crowded.

Welder Mohammad Amin, who suffered minor facial injuries, said he had just arrived at the factory on Monday morning then the explosion happened.

“The whole building shook with a huge noise and everything tumbled down as if a massive earthquake has struck,” he told AFP.

“The roof fell in. There was an iron table nearby and I survived with its support,” the 40 year old said. “I remained there and kept shouting for help, and eventually the rescue workers pulled me out three hours later.”

Saba Shafiq, sister of 12-year-old Mohammad Anis whose right arm was in a plaster cast, said poverty forced the family to send him out to work.

“We are poor people. My father is old and and sick. Our economic condition is bad, we found this factory in our neighbourhood,” she said.

“They paid him around 7,000 rupees ($77) which is not bad for a poor family like ours. It offered great help to our family,” she said.

Eight million people live in Lahore, about 250 kilometres (155 miles) southeast of the capital Islamabad. It is considered Pakistan’s cultural capital and perhaps the most liberal city in the conservative Muslim country. AGENCIES

Lhr factory collapse: 15 dead, 14 hurt; rescue op underway

TrendPK.com
LAHORE: As many as 15 bodies and 14 injured people have been retrieved thus far from under the rubble of the factory which came down after its boiler went off with a loud bang causing the cave-in of entire premises yesterday morning, TrendPK reports Tuesday.

According to details, the mishap occurred at 0810 PST in a medicine factory located on Multan Road, Kharak Stop, causing the entire building to collapse trapping under its debris people in large number. The debris could not be removed as yet despite the lapse of 24 hours.

Talking to TrendPK TV on the mishap site, Commissioner Lahore Jawwad Rafiq Malik said the rescue operation will continue till the last person is rescued safe and sound.

The injured and bodies have been shifted to nearby Jinnah Hospital, where Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif’s son Hamza Shahbaz Sharif visited to console him.

The bereaved families faced massive troubles in taking custody of their bodies from the hospital.

Meantime, a case has been lodged against the factory owners and government officers in Sabzazar Police Station. Also, police arrested factory manager Muneer Ahmed.

According to the sources, the factory has been working since eight months now, as its license was not renewed since June 2011. TrendPK

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Lahore factory collapse: toll rises to 17

TrendPK.com
LAHORE: As many as two more bodies were excavated this morning from under the rubble of the factory, which crumbled down as a result of explosion of its boiler yesterday morning, raising the overall toll to 17 thus far, TrendPK reports Tuesday.

Several people are believed to be still trapped under the debris of the factory, which had women and children as its employees.

As many as 14 people were taken out in injured state from the devastated building debris.

According to details, the mishap occurred at 0810 PST in a medicine factory located on Multan Road, Kharak Stop, causing the entire building to collapse trapping under its debris people in large number. The debris could not be removed as yet despite the lapse of 24 hours.

Talking to TrendPK TV on the mishap site, Commissioner Lahore Jawwad Rafiq Malik said the rescue operation will continue till the last person is rescued safe and sound.

The injured and bodies have been shifted to nearby Jinnah Hospital, where Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif’s son Hamza Shahbaz Sharif visited to console him.

The bereaved families faced massive troubles in taking custody of their bodies from the hospital.

Meantime, a case has been lodged against the factory owners and government officers in Sabzazar Police Station. Also, police arrested factory manager Muneer Ahmed.

According to the sources, the factory has been working since eight months now, as its license was not renewed since June 2011. TrendPK

Cylinder blast: Over 50 trapped in collapsed factory building in Lahore

TrendPK.com

LAHORE: More than 50 people, including women and children, were trapped on Monday in a collapsed building of a factory at Multan Road due to a cylinder blast inside it, TrendPK reports Monday.

Rescue teams managed to retrieve 10 people, including four women and a child in injured condition as the building completely caved in.

Two dead bodies were also pulled out of the pharmaceutical factory’s 3-story building.

“Some 17 women and 47 male workers were present inside the factory when blast tool place,” a rescue official told TrendPK, whereas DCO Lahore Ahad Chima say it may take time to remove the entire debris and recover the trapped people.

Initial reports said roof of the factory building was collapsed following a powerful cylinder blast, trapping at least 50 workers, including women and children.

Relief operations by 1122 Rescue teams and areas people are currently underway at the site to retrieve dead bodies and those injured. Cranes and other heavy machinery were called to remove the rubble.

The Monday’s blast also wounded few people.

Rescue teams said those pulled out alive from the debris were shifted to Jinnah and Sheikh Zayed hospitals, more than 15 kms from the incident site, in critical state. TrendPK

Lahore factory disaster: Over 60 still trapped in debris

TrendPK.com

LAHORE: Two dead bodies were pulled out while more than 60 people are still trapped inside debris of a three-story factory building which collapsed after a cylinder blast, TrendPK reports.

Initial reports say more than 70 people were present in the factory located in a residential area at Multan Road when it collapsed, possibly because of a gas cylinder explosion inside it.

A Rescue 1122 official told TrendPK that two bodies have so far been pulled out of the rubble and at least 10 injured people, most of them young children and women, rescued.

The survivors, including a 10-year-old boy and four women, were shifted to Jinnah and Sheikh Zayed hospitals, more than 15 kms from the incident site.

Fearing that the death toll may rise, officials said a gas cylinder explosion could have caused the disaster.

Thermal imaging devices and movement detectors are being used by the rescuers engaged in the operation being carried out carefully after detecting few survivors inside the debris, TrendPK reported.

Cranes were called to remove the rubble but authorities were having trouble getting heavy rescue machinery to the area because of narrow streets, while rescue teams were making hectic efforts to reach the trapped people.  

“The factory has completely collapsed and two houses next to it as well,” an emergency official at the site told TrendPK.

Some witnesses say up to 150 people normally worked at the factory used to manufacture veterinary injections.

Illegal Factory?

Deputy Commissioner Lahore, Ahad Cheema says it may take time to remove the entire debris and recover the trapped people.

Cheema said the factory was illegally set up in the residential area.

“Authorities had previously closed the factory three times, but each time it reopened, despite complaints from the neighbors,” he said. TrendPK

Accidents linked to bad weather kill 18 in Egypt

CAIRO: Building collapses and road accidents blamed on a mixture of sandstorms, heavy rain and high winds have killed at least 18 people and injured dozens more across Egypt, state media reported on Monday.

One factory building collapsed in the northern port city of Alexandria killing at least seven people and injuring 10, the state news agency MENA reported. It said the toll could rise as others were believed to be under the rubble.

State-owned Al-Ahram newspaper blamed rain damage to the factory structure for the collapse. It said other buildings also collapsed or were damaged by storms, leading to other deaths.

The newspaper, which put the total death toll at 18, also listed fatalities in road accidents related to the weather, including one incident where a street light fell into a road.

Sandstorms, rain and wind have battered swathes of the

2 dead, 3 burnt in fire at oil factory in Karachi

Staff Report

KARACHI: At least two laborers have died and three others burnt in a fire break out in an oil factory in Karachi on Wednesday morning.

According to details, a fire suddenly broke out with a with a loud bang in the furnace boiler of Max Calter Oil Factory in Steel Town; at least five laborers sustained severe burn injuries in the fire; later on two of them succumbed.

The names of the deceased laborers are Idrees and Qurban; among the burnt are Qamar Zaman, Allah Dino and Zar Khan.

Rescue teams and more than half dozen fire engines reached the factory and started efforts to control the fire after shifting the injured and dead bodies to the hospital. Trend Pk

Multan: Police raid fake fertilizer factory, 3000 bags seized

The agriculture department and police have raided a fake fertilizer factory in Multan and seized atleast 3000 bags of fake fertilizer whereas five laborers have also been arrested, trendpk.Com reported on Friday.

Ammonium Nitrate was used to be changed into DAP by fake ways in the factory situated on Dunypur Road Multan. Price one bag of Ammonium Nitrate is 700 rupees whereas one bag of DAP has a price of 3000 rupees. Those arrested and involved in this illegal business used to create fake fertilizers for the flood affected areas. Police have arrested laborers working over there but have failed to arrest the owner of the factory as yet.

Peshawar: Four die in crossfire

At least four people have been killed, while two others injured in a crossfire at Hayatabad Industrial Estate, Peshawar on Friday.
Police said that a Jirga was being held at a factory to resolve a dispute between two owners of the factory. During the negotiations both the parties got furious and resorted to exchange of fire. Resultantly, four men got killed while two others received injuries.
The wounded have been shifted to Hayatabad Medical Complex.

Hungary toxic sludge spill reaches Danube

BUDAPEST: Hungary’s toxic sludge spill, which has killed four people, reached the Danube river Thursday, threatening to contaminate the waterway’s ecosystem, a water authority official told AFP.

Water alkalinity, a measure of river contamination, was already above normal in the major waterway, the official said.

Samples taken at the confluence of the Raab river and the Danube showed “alkalinity slightly above nornal, around 8.96 percent to 9.07 percent,” against a normal tally of eight percent, the source said.

A wave of toxic mud was unleashed Monday from the reservoir of an aluminium plant at Ajka, 160 kilometres (100 miles) west of Budapest.

The red mud travelled down the Raab river and reached the Danube waters at around 0630 GMT at Gyor.

The industrial accident triggered by the collapse of walls at the factory reservoir on Monday has

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