LAHORE: Four labourers were killed while two others were injured when an under-construction building collapsed in Shafiqabad here on Friday.

The building collapsed when the labourers were digging basement and six of them got trapped under the debris.

As many as 25 rescue workers reached the spot along with seven special vehicles to respond the emergency call and launched an operation.A spokesperson for the Rescue 1122 said the labourers present there were unaware of the exact number of their missing colleagues under the debris. However, they retrieved bodies of three labourers -- Khizyar Hayat, Badur Rasheed and Abu Huraira -- besides three others seriously injured.

The injured were being taken to a local hospital, when one of them died on the way, the spokesperson said adding they handed over the premises to the police after completing operation.

A police official said the building caved in when the labourers started digging basement without knowing that they were damaging its foundation. He said the police were trying to trace the contractor who was not present there at the time of the incident.

The bodies of the labourers were handed over to the families after legal formalities, he said.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2020