13 killed in Pakistan factory explosion

Ten women and three children have been killed after a factory collapsed in the Pakistan city of Lahore.

Dozens of others are thought to be trapped under rubble of the three-storey building, which was used to manufacture veterinary medicines.

Police said the building collapsed after a boiler and gas cylinder exploded.

Rescue workers are digging through the rubble with bare hands, trying to find those trapped beneath concrete slabs.

Police said the Orient Labs (Private) Limited factory was illegal as it was without the proper registration, and they are searching for its three partners.

The accident at the 25-year-old factory will likely highlight poor safety procedures among Pakistani manufacturers and, with young boys among the dead, the use of child labour.

An emergency services official said: "The death toll has risen to 13 and we have pulled out 13 people alive from under the rubble.

"We hope to find more alive people overnight and the rescue operation is in progress."

Different officials estimated that there are between 35 and 50 people still buried under the rubble.

Most of them are believed to be women and children, who were hired to pack the medicines.

Mohammad Akram, 50, said he ran to the site shortly after 8am (3am Irish time), worried about his ten-year-old son, Asad, a packer.

He said: "I came here rushing and weeping but luckily my son has been rescued. He is injured and alive. But my 12-year old nephew is still missing."

The main working hours were 8am to 5pm, but employees were quite often required to work late into the night as well, Mr Akram said.