Summary Citizens lighted candles at the site of accident to show their solidarity with families of victims.
LAHORE (Dunya News)— The death toll of the tragic Sundar Industrial Estate factory collapse continued to rise on Saturday reaching 50 as two more dead bodies were taken out of the wreckage. 17 year old Rizwan was a resident of Layia while 18 year old Raza was a resident of Vehari. More than 104 injured victims have been extricated from the wreckage of the four storeyed Rajput Polyester factory so far.
The rescue operation continued on the 5th day and has been on-going day and night as rescue officials and Pak-Army soldiers worked tirelessly, scuffling through the rubble in the hopes of finding any survivors. Rescue workers, aided by excavators and cranes, shifted through the rubble while several anxious relatives of those still missing stood at the site, hoping to learn about their loved ones.
Meanwhile citizens lighted candles at the site of the accident in memory of those who lost their lives and to show their solidarity with the families of the victims.
According to Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Amin Wains, in case of difficulty in identdging the victims, a DNA test and forensic examination will be performed. Wains also stated that a case will be registered against those responsible once the report of the incident comes to light.
Also read: Sundar tragedy: Man rescued after 50 hours, family buried wrong body
According to the chief of rescue operation Arshad Zia, 400 rescue officials were on duty for the operation and they had doubled their efforts as time is a crucial factor in finding the victims alive. He informed that the rescuers had removed the rubble of the top two floors but still needed to get to the bottom floors where more workers are believed to be trapped. Zia remains optimistic in finding more survivors.
Rescue services spokesman Jam Sajjad Hussain said earlier Thursday it was "difficult" to give a specific number, but said workers had told officials that around 200 people had been inside at the time of the collapse, including the owner.
Read further: Hopes fade for survivors of Lahore factory collapse
Factory employee Mohammad Navid had earlier told AFP that up to 50 shift workers may have been sleeping in a part of the building that rescuers had not yet reached, and that children as young as 12 had been working in the factory.
A list of the injured from one of the three hospitals the wounded were shifted to, however, showed three 15-year-olds as the youngest patients listed.
Another employee, 18-year-old Mohammad Irfan, told AFP from his hospital bed that the workers were "mostly" aged between 14 and 25.
The collapse occurred at the Rajput Polyester polythene bag factory in the Sundar industrial estate, around 45 kilometres (30 miles) southwest of Lahore s city centre.
The factory may have suffered structural damage in the October 26 quake which killed almost 400 people across Pakistan and Afghanistan.
akistan has a poor safety record in the construction and maintenance of buildings.
At least 24 people died last year when a mosque collapsed in the same city, while more than 200 people lost their lives, mostly due to collapsed roofs, following torrential rain and flooding in 2014.
In 2012, at least 255 workers were killed when a fire tore through a clothing factory in Karachi, one of the deadliest industrial accidents in Pakistani history.
