At least 23 people were killed and dozens others injured when a four-storey building housing a plastic bags factory came crashing down in Lahore. Rescuers have pulled more than 100 survivors from the rubble of a collapsed factory and are searching for dozens of others believed still trapped. More than 150 workers were present in the Rajput Polyester Factory, located in the Sundar Industrial Estate, 20 kilometres south of the city, when it collapsed, according to DCO Capt (retd) Muhammad Usman. There may be as many as 100 people still under the rubble, some of whom may survive but many will not. The four-storey unit made plastic bags and it is reported that there were children working there in addition to the adult workforce. The collapse happened in the evening, the building is at the end of a narrow lane and despite emergency services being quickly on the scene, they had difficulty operating heavy equipment for fear of injuring those still beneath the rubble. The incident will fade from the headlines within days at most, and therein lies the rub. In only four years, Lahore has seen all three: workers dying due to smoke inhalation during a factory fire because there was only one exit, and that was through the generator room where the fire began; a boiler exploding in a factory built illegally in a residential area; and now structural failure that caused the building to collapse and bury the young ones toiling within. The more horrifying story yet is the even larger numbers of workers who continue toiling away in the thousands of factories across Pakistan under conditions that are dangerous and a threat to life and limb. The management of the industrial estates must also be held accountable, since they are in a position to ensure that safety standards are being implemented, and to either demand enforcement from errant owners or report them to government authorities. Anywhere else in the world, the owners would have been swiftly detained, with the possibility at the very least of facing manslaughter charges at a future date. This is unlikely to happen. Political contacts will be worked, money will change hands, there will be a botched inquiry and those responsible for the deaths of yet another group of poor workers will walk away from any responsibility, free in the knowledge that their country will always look after those who have deep pockets. How many other industrial accidents will we experience before we realise that this laissez-faire approach towards manufacturing means we are signing the death warrant of our environment, our residential areas, and in the latest example, our children as well?
pk.shafaqna.com
