Public safety: Two children killed in blast at illegal factory

Five injured by debris and chemical fire as blast damages neighbouring houses.

LAHORE:

Two children were killed and five people suffered serious injuries in a mysterious cylinder explosion and chemical fire at a makeshift factory in a residential area in Ferozewala on Friday.

The incident occurred at the Azeem Mughal Varnish Factory, which is located amidst residential houses in Vandala Pull near Nazeer Colony. Later, residents of the neighbourhood urged the police to prevent such factories operating near their homes.

Rescue 1122 officials said they were investigating whether chemicals stored at the factory caught fire, resulting in the cylinder blast, or whether the gas cylinder explosion caused the chemicals to catch fire.

They said that the explosion caused the factory building to collapse and also damaged three neighbouring houses. One of them was almost completely razed, one suffered damage to two rooms and the third to a wall.

Abdul Sami, 1, and Shanzay, 5, were crushed and killed under debris following the explosion. Nasreen, 40, Iffat, 35, Shahid, 22, Usman, 20, and Ahmad Naveed, 27, most of them believed to be factory workers, were injured by the debris and shifted to Mayo Hospital. Two of them also suffered serious burns and are in critical condition.

Residents of the area said they heard several blasts at the factory, like a chain explosion. “It was like someone had set off a series of bombs,” said one resident. They said that the factory produced paint, which it then labelled with an established brand name. They said there were several other such factories in the neighbourhood that manufactured chemical products.

“Our lives are at risk just by living here,” said a resident. “The police should take action against them for violating the law and putting the public in danger.” As of Friday night, there had been no police action in the case.

Farooq, a public relations officer for Rescue 1122, said that the factory building did not meet safety conditions outlined in the building safety codes. He said it was time that these codes were enforced, since they could prevent such incidents. He said that Rescue 1122 had launched a programme to raise awareness of the hazardous buildings issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2011.