Twelve people were killed and dozens of others were injured Friday morning when a boiler exploded in a chemical factory located in a residential area of Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, police sources said.
The explosion occurred in the industrial city of Faisalabad, triggering a massive fire that quickly spread throughout the factory, the same sources added.
Firefighters are struggling to contain the blaze to prevent it from reaching nearby houses, they said.
According to police, the impact of the explosion caused the walls and roofs of several adjacent homes to collapse, and most of the dead and injured were residents of those houses.
The injured were taken to a nearby hospital, where several of them are in critical condition.
A rescue operation is underway, and the death toll may rise, as several people are believed to still be trapped inside the factory, officials said.
