LAHORE • At least 10 people were killed and up to 150 trapped yesterday when a factory collapsed near Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore, officials said, adding to a number of industrial disasters to strike the South Asian nation.

Rescue workers digging for survivors with construction equipment had pulled out 35 people so far, many with minor injuries, said Mr Kashif Nazir, a rescue worker at the scene.

The factory, located at an industrial site about 20km south of the city, manufactured shopping bags. It was not clear what caused the collapse, though construction work had been going on there.

Ten bodies had been recovered, said Mr Muhammad Usman, a senior local government official.

Pakistan's construction sector suffers from poor oversight and developers frequently flout building codes. In September 2012, 289 people burned to death in a fire at a garment factory in the city of Karachi. On the same day, a fire at a shoe factory in Lahore killed 25.

REUTERS