- Over 200 workers were present in the building when it went down; owner among those dead
- Oct 26 earthquake created cracks in the walls of the building, and could have been the cause of the collapse
At least 18 workers were killed and several others were trapped in the debris after a four-storey factory completely collapsed in Sundar Industrial Estate on Wednesday evening.
The Rajput Plastic Industry is owned by Rana Muhammad Ashraf and construction work on the fourth storey was underway when the incident took place.
As per initial reports, it is suspected that some cracks emerged in the building after the October 26 earthquake. However, the owner did not pay any heed in this regard. Lahore District Coordination Officer (DCO) Capt (r) Usman, who was monitoring the rescue operation with his team on the spot, told Pakistan Today that all four stories of the building had collapsed and the district administration had sought assistance from the Pakistan Army’s Engineering Corps to remove the debris and rescue workers still trapped under the rubble.
A spokesperson for the Edhi Foundation, Younas Bhatti, told Pakistan Today that more than 50 Edhi ambulances are taking part in the rescue operation and additional manpower has been called from the adjacent districts of Lahore.
According to him, 18 dead bodies have been found in the debris of the building. He said that more than 40 injured workers have been evacuated from the site, and the numbers may rise. He said that the voices of those trapped in the rubble could be heard. There were more than 200 workers inside the factory when the incident took place, he said. However, the Lahore DCO said that there were around 150 workers present in the factory at the time of the incident.
The injured persons were being shifted to Jinnah Hospital and Sharif Medical Complex in Jati Umra, Raiwind, and an emergency has been declared in both hospitals. Doctors and hospital staff were instructed to stay on alert to provide adequate treatment to the injured.
Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Sharif Medical Complex and enquired about the condition of the injured shifted there. Later on, he also visited the site of the incident in Sundar Industrial Estate where he was briefed by DCO Captain (r) Usman about the rescue operation.
The CM, while talking to reporters present at the site, said that it was too early to link the collapse of the building to the after effects of earthquake. However, he added that he had ordered a survey of the current status of all buildings in the province. He said the emergence of cracks cannot be ruled out as the culprit.
Rescue 1122 Spokesperson Jam Sajjad Hussain told Pakistan Today that 36 injured people have been evacuated safely. From the 36, around eight to 10 are in critical condition. Surprisingly, he said that only three people had died, while the district administration claimed that 16 dead bodies were found in the debris.
Hussain said that 38 Rescue 1122 ambulances and 350 rescuers are taking part in the relief operation. “The cause of this tragic incident will be ascertained once the operation is completed,” he said.
Sundar Police Station Inspector Husnain Haider told Pakistan Today that the factory owner Rana Ashraf had also died in the incident and his body has been dug out from the rubble.
According to ISPR, the Army teams carrying engineers and rescuers reached at the spot and are working with the officials of the district administration to help with the rescue operation. These teams are equipped with heavy machinery and modern techniques to deal with the emergency situation.
A massive traffic jam was witnessed on the adjacent roads as people thronged to the site of incident to have a look at the destroyed factory.
The rescue operation was being monitored by the Lahore Commissioner Abdullah Sumbal, DCO Lahore Captain (r) Usman, Lahore CCPO Amin Wains, DIG Operations Dr Haider Ashraf, MNA Malik Parvez and provincial minister Rana Mashood Ahmad Khan.
Some of the names of the deceased that have been made available to Pakistan Today are Intizar aged 35, Ali Zaman 20, Aurangzeb and Sajid. The names of injured are Sakhawat 50, Iqbal 25, Shakeel 30, Abid 18, Saeed 36, Asim Ali 19, Asif 22, Rizwan 18, Imran 15, Amir 25, Pervaiz 31, Iqbal 45, Umar 30, Nadeem 15, Asif 21, Sagheer 20, Maqbool 25, Raheel 15, Irfan 18.
This isn’t the first incident of this kind in Punjab. Around seven events similar to this have resulted in deaths and injuries, including women and children, within the span of the last two years.
In 2014 alone there were three different incidences that led to the deaths of 36 people. In July, two children and a woman died when a building collapsed in Lahore’s Hajipura, Kala Khatai Road. In August, Nine people were injured in a building collapse on Ravi Road in Lahore. In September At least 24 people were killed after the roof of a mosque collapsed in the Daroghawala area of Lahore.
In 2015, this is the five instance of a building collapsing. In January this year, as many as six people including a bride were killed when a wall collapsed on a stage during a wedding ceremony in Lahore. In March, as many as seven people were killed and five others injured when the roof of a two-storey building collapsed in Wah Cantonment area of Lahore. In April, rescue officials evacuated ten people who were trapped under debris as the roof of a two-storey building in Lahore’s Anarkali Bazaar collapsed. In July, a seven-storey under-construction building collapsed in Rang Mahal Noor Gali area Lahore, leaving at least seven people injured.
