--- description: Many more are feared trapped under the rubble of a factory under construction in the city of Lahore title: Pakistan Factory Collapse Kills at Least 16 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt92cc271d5021aeab/69886fb1cf40a8bd7ac40819/495713886.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Pakistan](/tag/pakistan/) ## Pakistan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Pakistan Factory Collapse Kills at Least 16 by [Joanna Plucinska](/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 5, 2015 4:23 AM CUT  Pakistani soldiers and rescuers search the victims in the rubble of a collapsed factory on the outskirts of Lahore on November 4, 2015 Pakistani soldiers and rescuers search the victims in the rubble of a collapsed factory on the outskirts of Lahore on November 4, 2015Waseem Ali—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images by [Joanna Plucinska](/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 5, 2015 4:23 AM CUT **Correction appended, Nov. 6** A factory under construction in Lahore, Pakistan, [collapsed](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34720251 "undefined") in the very early hours of Wednesday morning, leaving at least 16 dead, according to local officials. Emergency workers say that up to 150 people could still be trapped under the rubble and that a major rescue operation is ongoing. The operation was moving slowly as excavators were having trouble reaching the end of the narrow lane where the factory was located, a provincial spokesperson told reporters according to [al-Jazeera](http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/11/dead-factory-collapses-pakistan-lahore-151104145754335.html "undefined"). State-run TV reported that 45 of those injured in the collapse have been transferred to hospitals in the area, the BBC said. [Calls for accountability](http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/fairtrade-partner-zone/dhaka-factory-collapse-fashion-brands-consumers "undefined") over safety conditions in South Asia’s factories have spiked, particularly after the [2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh](http://time.com/3902945/rana-plaza-murder-charges-owner-sohel-rana/ "undefined") killed over 1,100 individuals. Pakistan’s building safety levels are generally substandard, the BBC says. **Correction**: A previous version of this story misstated the time of the factory’s collapse. It collapsed early Wednesday morning. \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34720251 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4100950/pakistan-factory-collapse-lahore/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4100950/pakistan-factory-collapse-lahore/"},"headline":"Pakistan Factory Collapse Kills at Least 16","datePublished":"2015-11-05T04:23:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:21:28.136Z","description":"Many more are feared trapped under the rubble of a factory under construction in the city of Lahore","url":"https://time.com/4100950/pakistan-factory-collapse-lahore/","keywords":["Pakistan"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt92cc271d5021aeab/69886fb1cf40a8bd7ac40819/495713886.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joanna Plucinska","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joanna-plucinska/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt92cc271d5021aeab/69886fb1cf40a8bd7ac40819/495713886.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Pakistan factory collapse kills 16 in Lahore","caption":"Pakistan factory collapse kills 16 in Lahore","creditText":"Waseem Ali—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/pakistan/","name":"Pakistan"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4100950/pakistan-factory-collapse-lahore/","name":"Pakistan Factory Collapse Kills at Least 16"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Bobby Ghosh: Lessons From the Bangladeshi Factory Tragedies","description":"A fire in a Bangladeshi factory kills eight, as the death toll of last week's collapse reaches more than 900. 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