Four dead in Pakistan hotel collapse

PAKISTAN: One woman has been rescued and the bodies of three of her family members recovered from the debris of a hotel that collapsed in Pakistan's popular hill resort of Murree early Thursday, police said.

The 21-year-old woman was pulled alive from the rubble but her parents and a brother died along with a hotel security guard, local police chief Sajid Kiyani said.

"We have recovered alive the daughter of the owner of the building but her father, mother and brother died in the collapse," he said.

"We have spotted and are trying to recover the body of their security guard buried under the rubble," he said. Trapped in the ruins, the woman called police for help using her mobile phone, Kiyani said.

Some 100 soldiers and engineers with a crane had joined police and local administration officials in the rescue operation and to recover the remaining body, he said.

Kiyani said a total of five people were in the nine-storey hotel when it collapsed, saying earlier estimates of 12-14 people trapped were incorrect.

Islamabad, Friday, AFP