MULTAN, Nov 4: A child labourer was killed and nine of his co-workers injured when the roof of an upholstery and garments factory caved in, here on Tuesday.

Reports said 10 boys, aged between nine and 13 years, were busy packing towels and table napkins at the Paradise Upholstery and Garments Factory, situated in a thickly populated area of Manzoorabad, when the roof of the room they were sitting in collapsed.

All the 10 boys were injured and taken to the Nishtar Hospital where 11-year-old Bilal succumbed to his injuries. The other injured were identified as Javed, 13, Jameel, 12, Adil Sultan, 12, Sohail, 11, Rizwan, 11, Muhammad Usman, 10, Shahid, 10, Ramzan, 9, and Saleem, 8. Their condition was stated to be stable at the hospital.

It is learnt that the garments’ business was being run in an old building, whose roof was made of reed and wood. Area people told this correspondent that 150 children, none of them more than 15 years, worked at the factory in three shifts.

An accident of similar nature, which took place earlier at the factory when all the child labourers suffered injuries, went unnoticed, they said.

The factory owner exports his products to various countries. The children were packing a consignment to be exported to Belgium when the roof collapsed.

When contacted, an official at the Delhi Gate police station said deceased Bilal’s father Abdul Sattar did not want to take any action against the factory owner because he believed it was an accident. “The police cannot take action without complainant’s consent,” he added.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Multan task force, coordinator Advocate Rashid Rehman has criticized the labour department for being indifferent to the needs of the children labourers in the area.

Executive District Officer (community development) Rana Muhammad Akram, when contacted by this correspondent, first sought details of the incident.

He, however, said he would look into the matter and penalize the negligent labour department officials.