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LAHORE: Three more dead bodies were recovered from the debris of collapsed factory building in Lahore, pushing the toll to 17 on Tuesday, Geo News reported. At least 30 people are still likely to be under the rubble while 14 injured have been pulled out.

Three-storey building of a pharmaceutical company collapsed due to boiler explosion on Monday morning. Three other houses alongside the building were also razed. Rescue work is underway for 24 hours but the 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.

PPI adds: District Coordination Officer Lahore, Ahad Khan Cheema on Monday said that incident of factory’s collapse near Multan Road would properly be investigated.

He said all concerned departments were engaged in rescue operation while all hospitals in city had also been put on high alert and medical facilities being given to the injured persons pulled out from the debris.

He said nearest buildings had also been evacuated immediately following the incident.He further said that according to information, 50 people were inside at the time of the collapse of the building, where normally 150 to 200 people work round the clock.

Special rescue workers with latest machinery are striving to pull the trapped persons out from the rubble. But, the rescue work is being done carefully so as many as precious lives can be saved,” he maintained.