At least 12 killed in Lahore factory fire

Authorities fear death toll may rise as some of the injured are in critical condition

LAHORE: At least 12 people, including women and children, were killed on Tuesday after a factory caught fire in Lahore's Ferozewala area.

The factory was reportedly a colour-dying unit and also housed some of the employees on one of the floors of the building. Initial reports suggested the cause of the inferno was a cylinder blast.

Scrap warehouse catches fire 

Local rescue officials fear the death toll may increase as some of the injured are in critical condition.

The intensity of the fire, which also delayed the rescue operation, caused the building to collapse and damaged the roof of a nearby structure.

Rescue officials also evacuated the immediate area.

لاہور کے علاقے شاہدرہ کی امامیہ کالونی میں فیکٹری میں آگ لگنے سے آٹھ افراد جاں بحق pic.twitter.com/IiIQZFs9Ru

— aamir shaikh (@aamirsh99212993) January 28, 2020

Last week, a scrap warehouse caught fire in Ghosia Colony near Teen Hatti late, reducing the goods stored inside to ash. Two fire tenders arrived at the spot after being told about the blaze, but people from the area claimed that they were late by half an hour, with the goods inside the warehouse completely burnt by the time the firefighters reached there.

Residents from the area, who were woken up from their sleep by the blaze, said that landowners had rented out their plots in the densely populated locality for setting up warehouses.