Factory collapse in Pakistan kills at least 18

The scene in Lahore, Pakistan, where a factory collapsed.

(Image credit: Twitter.com/Newsweek)

last updated 5 November 2015

At least 18 people are dead and 51 injured after the roof of a four-story factory collapsed near Lahore, Pakistan, on Wednesday.

On Oct. 26, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake rocked Pakistan and Afghanistan, killing 390 people, and Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif said it's possible that the Rajput Polyester factory, which manufactured plastic bags, sustained structural damage. "I have heard about the earthquake affecting the building, but according to laborers the owner continued to build an extension," he said. A doctor at Jinnah Hospital said most of the injured are young people with head injuries and fractured limbs, The Associated Press reports. Rescue efforts are ongoing, officials said, and they are hoping to find survivors in the rubble.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.