11 killed in factory fire in Pakistan

At least 11 people, including two women and minors, were killed in a fire caused by an explosion in a gas cylinder at a perfume factory here on Tuesday, according to media reports. Two others were critically injured in the incident that took place in the Shahdara area of Lahore, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The fire that engulfed the whole building caused its roof to collapse and damaged the structure located adjacent to it, the report said. At least 15 people were inside the factory at the time of the incident, the report said.

However, residents of the area expressed ignorance at the presence of a perfume factory inside the building and had earlier thought it to be a textile manufacturing unit. "We only got to know about the presence of perfume and other chemicals after the fire broke out," one of the residents was quoted as saying in the report.

According to a report in Geo News, ten firefighting vehicles were pressed into service to extinguish the fire. The fire has been brought under control and the cooling process is underway, rescue officials were quoted as saying in the report.

So far, five deceased- Jameel (37), Zahid (65), his wife Rashida bibi, Areeba (6)and Moosa (9)- have been identified, the Dawn report said.