Toll in building collapse incident rises to 23

LAHORE: The toll in the building collapse incident in Lahore has increased to 23 after one more body of a woman was recovered from the debris today, Geo News reported.

Rescue work is still underway and so far 16 injured persons have been recovered from the rubble who have been shifted to the hospital. It is still feared that there could be 8 persons under the wreckage of the building, however, no signs of life were monitored over the human scan machine.

The work to remove the debris would be completed by Friday.

Earlier today, a man named Ghulam Abbas who was recovered alive on Wednesday after 47 hours died here at a local hospital.

On Monday, a three-storey building of a pharmaceutical company collapsed due to boiler explosion. Three other houses alongside the building were also razed. Rescue teams were facing severe difficulty in carrying out the rescuing operation through heavy machines due to narrow lanes and lack of adequate machinery.

Police has registered the case against two brothers, Shaikh Zaheer and Shaikh Zafar, who are the owners of the factory and are still at large. However, factory manager Muneer was arrested.