LAHORE: At least 11 worshippers were killed when the roof of a mosque collapsed in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore Tuesday, officials said, adding the death toll may rise. The incident took place in Daroghawala, a low-income neighborhood in the outer city with narrow and congested streets.

There were up to 30 people at the daily afternoon prayer.

“We fear that the death toll might rise. The roads there are very crowded, preventing heavy machines from entering the area to remove the debris. The people of the area are also helping the rescue effort,” rescue official Jam Sajjad said.

Safety standards, particularly in construction, are very lax in nuclear-armed but impoverished Pakistan. At least 21 people including including 16 women and four children died when a factory collapsed in Lahore in 2012.

The collapse of the Margalla Towers apartment block in Islamabad in a 2005 earthquake killed 78 people, with shoddy construction blamed.