Deaths in factory fires in Pakistan up to 314

[September 12, 2012]  KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistani officials say the death toll from devastating factory fires that broke out in two major cities has risen to 314.

Senior government official Roshan Ali Sheikh said on Wednesday that the fire at a garment factory in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi has killed 289 people.

A blaze at a shoe factory in the eastern city of Lahore, which also broke out Tuesday night, killed 25 people.

Firefighter chief Ehtisham-ud-Din says most of the garment factory deaths were caused by suffocation as people caught in the basement were unable to escape.

Sheikh says the death toll could rise because rescue workers are still pulling bodies from the site in Karachi.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.