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

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

Building collapse kills at least 60 in Indian capital

NEW DELHI: Rescuers using shovels, digging machines and their bare hands searched for survivors on Tuesday after a five-storey residential building collapsed in India’s capital, crushing at least 60 people to death.

Another 78 people were injured and at least 30 more were believed to trapped in the rubble after the collapse on Monday night, police and rescuers said.

“The lanes are very narrow. It is not easy for the (rescue) team to get there,” said Sheila Dikshit, Delhi’s chief minister.

She blamed the building’s faulty construction for the collapse and said her government would order a probe into it.

Local authorities said the building collapsed as its basement was waterlogged for days after heavy monsoon rains.

Many Indian buildings do not confirm to safety or zoning regulations, with owners building additional floors or structures without

Dwellers of bomb-hit Al-Madina locality await help

Staff Report

KARACHI: The worst terrorist attack in the history of Karachi on Thursday devastated Al-Madina locality, leaving approximately 400 people homeless who continue to sit and sleep on the rubble of their demolished houses for the last 48 hours.

Speaking to Trend Pk, they said that about 60 to 89 houses had been demolished in the deadly bombing, killing three women and injuring nine others, including children.

Al-Madina locality was established in 1960.

Meanwhile, affected families called for immediate help from the government to rebuild their homes. Trend Pk

Dwellers of bomb-hit Al-Madina locality await help

Staff Report

KARACHI: The worst terrorist attack in the history of Karachi on Thursday devastated Al-Madina locality, leaving approximately 400 people homeless who continue to sit and sleep on the rubble of their demolished houses for the last 48 hours.

Speaking to Trend Pk, they said that about 60 to 89 houses had been demolished in the deadly bombing, killing three women and injuring nine others, including children.

Al-Madina locality was established in 1960.

Meanwhile, affected families called for immediate help from the government to rebuild their homes. Trend Pk

Dead body found in rubble of CID building

Staff Report

KARACHI: An unidentifiable dead body was found from the rubble of the CID building, which was completely devastated in the truck bomb blast Thursday night.

The powerful blast also damaged several other buildings nearby.

Efforts are underway to find and pull the trapped bodies out of the gutted building.

At least 21 people, including six policemen, were killed and over 100 wounded in the worst terror attack to hit Karachi.

Meanwhile, owners of the other damaged buildings demanded that the government makes early arrangements for reconstructing their houses.

In addition, two mosques were also affected by the bombing. Trend Pk

Suicide attack on Darra Adam Khel mosque kills 30

Staff Report

KOHAT: At least 30 people were killed and scores of others wounded after a suicide bomber ripped through a crowded mosque in Darra Adam Khel on Friday.

The blast took place at a time when people were offering Friday prayers.

Confirming the suicide attack, Kohat’s commissioner said roof of the mosque has collapsed, leaving dozens of people stranded under the rubble.

The commissioner said that rescue efforts are under way to rescue the stranded people.

According to reports, a large number of people were present in the mosque at the time of the blast.

Law enforcement agencies reached the scene and cordoned off the area.

Meanwhile, the injured are being shifted to different hospitals, where emergency has been declared. Trend Pk

Indian forces release Hurriyat chief after fresh violence in Srinagar

Indian security forces released senior Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Gillani after fresh violence erupted in Srinagar, capital of Jammu and Kashmir, on Saturday when a mob set on fire a police barracks and damaged a police vehicle on the banks of the Dal Lake.
Authorities had not imposed curfew or restrictions anywhere in the state for Eid in order to allow people to offer prayers and celebrate the festival. But soon after the Eid ul-Fitr prayers, a mob set ablaze the police post and damaged a Gypsy. Police fired in the air to disperse the mob. No casualties were, however, reported in the incident.
The Kashmir Valley is witnessing a surge of separatist violence that forced the authorities to impose curfew frequently in several parts of the disputed region. About 69 persons have been killed in one of the worst outbreaks of violence since a separatist revolt against New Delhi broke out in Kashmir in 1989.
A day earlier the leaders of two local groups joined hands against the unrest that has plagued Kashmir. They urged the government to give space for residents to protest and called for a political resolution to the region’s woes. But after they staged a protest march against the deaths of locals, the situation spiraled out of control. Youths hurled stones at police who used tear gas to disperse them. Authorities had decided not to impose curfew for the Eid holiday to allow people to celebrate.

US drone strike kills 5 in North Waziristan

At least five foreign suspected militants were killed in a drone strike on Sunday in Data Khel, North Wazristan.
According to official sources, two missiles were fired on a compound due to which five suspected militants were killed. The number of causalities may rise. Fear and panic gripped the area following the attack.
Residents said five bodies had been dug from the rubble. Some injured people had been taken to an unknown location for medical treatment.Intelligence officials said they were trying to find out the nationalities of the people killed in the latest attack.

4 bodies pulled from building rubble in Karachi

KARACHI: Four bodies were recovered from debris of a residential building collapsed in SITE area here on Wednesday while more are feared still buried under the rubble.

Construction work was underway on a four-storey residential building in Metroville SITE number which suddenly fell apart and came to ground.

Police, Rangers and rescue personnel reached the site of the incident immediately after the mishap.

Dead bodies of four people, including two women and as many children were pulled out of the rubble while six others were retrieved with serious injuries and shifted to a nearby hospital.

According to area residents, the different portions of the building were rented out while the third floor of the building had been constructed only a year ago.

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