Fire kills 20 factory workers in Pakistan

At least 20 workers were killed and five wounded when fire gutted a shoe-making factory in the eastern city of Lahore on Tuesday, hospital officials said. The sudden fire trapped dozens of workers in the factory in Pakistan's second largest city, a rescue official said. "We have received 20 dead bodies. Five injured persons were also brought here, (the) condition of three of them is critical," doctor Zahid Pervaiz, medical superintendent of the main Mayo Hospital told AFP. Karamat Ali, a spokesman for the government's emergency rescue team confirmed to AFP that volunteers have taken several bodies and injured workers to the hospital. He said about a dozen fire crews were struggling to control the fire and rescue workers were trying to evacuate those trapped inside the factory. "The cause of the fire is not yet known," Ali said.