Fire rages in Pakistani garment factory, killing at least 166 people

Islamabad, Pakistan. At least 166 people were killed in a fire that swept through a garment factory overnight in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, a local official said Wednesday.

The toll from the fire, which continued to burn on Wednesday, is expected to rise, Commissioner Roshan Ali Shaikh, Karachi's top administrative official, said in a phone interview with CNN affiliate Geo TV.

A child is among the dead, and at least 25 people have been injured by the fire, said Zakir Khan, of the Karachi Fire Department. All the victims were employees of the factory, he said.

Firefighters were trying to bring the blaze under control, Khan said, but their task was made more difficult because they couldn't enter several portions of the weakened building.

The building might collapse any time because the fire heavily damaged parts of its steel structure, said Mustafa Jamal, a senior government official in Baldia Town, the area of Karachi where the factory is situated.

Dozens of people may be trapped in the basement of the building, according to Khan. A rescue operation is under way to try to save them.

Jamal said between 400 and 500 people were in the factory when the incident took place.

Several workers who were trapped by the fire jumped out of the upper floors.

Video broadcast by Geo TV showed large crowds of anxious people gathered outside the smoldering building.

Through windows and holes of the scorched outer walls of the factory, the video footage showed glimpses of flames still flickering within.

Fire officials say they don't know the cause of the fire at this point.

These are pictures showing what really hapenned.