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Growing safety hazard: Five burnt alive in wagon’s CNG leak
Victims include two children; accident follows a proposed ban on CNG use in public transport.
Victims include two children; accident follows a proposed ban on CNG use in public transport. PHOTO: SHAHID ALI/EXPRESS/ FILE
FAISALABAD: Just as the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) proposed a ban on CNG use in public transport vehicles, at least five passengers, including two children, were burnt alive when a wagon bound for Faisalabad caught fire after a gas leakage. The accident occurred near Khurianwala, after the wagon had departed from Shahkot.
The passenger wagon, carrying 14 people, caught fire when it reached the Khurianwala Saleemi CNG Station. The fire quickly spread through the wagon, leaving the passengers, including the driver and conductor, trapped inside. The passengers who died were burnt beyond recognition.
Rescue workers from a nearby Rescue 1122 station made hectic efforts to save the passengers and were able to pull out nine passengers from the vehicle. All nine were rushed to Faisalabad’s Allied Hospital and three of them are stated to be in critical condition.
District Coordination Officer Naseem Sadiq told the media that an inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident. He also said action would be taken against the installation of faulty CNG kits and cylinders.
Ogra’s letter
As recently as Saturday, Ogra sent a letter to the petroleum secretary proposing a ban on CNG in public vehicles in order to prevent fatal accidents as well as to ease gas shortage and improve gas pressure. The letter recommended that provincial governments take stern action against unauthorised and illegal CNG conversion workshops to ensure public safety.
“Ogra hopes that these measures will help control not only low pressure problems of gas but will also control CNG-related accidents in public transport vehicles and ensure public safety,” it said.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2011.
Reader Comments (16)
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How can one analyse which cng kit is good and which is bad. People. Any idea our car has cng kit as well petrol. Please bring the facts to save everyone’s life.
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Now the ghairat brigade will not protect to find the people are selling 10 number CNG kits in pakistan and causing too much deaths.
Or may be it is CIA and USA who are selling 10 number kits to kill “only true Muslims” on the face of earth.
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The world moving towards the hybrid cars and we going back to CNG. The running bomb in each vehicle. The life is so cheap in pakistan, to be put at risk to save few rupees.
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government should take actions to ensure that gas kits being installed in public transport is reliable. Life of Pakistani public is becoming more and more cheap in eyes of government.
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CNG gas cylinders have a fixed period after which they should be replaced. This is because constant compression (gas filling) and decrompression (when gas is used) causes microscopic fractures in the metal, ultimately leading to catastrophic failure, shown by this tragedy.
This is the second example within last ten days. Unfortunately, there are bound to be more as there are no regulatory bodies monitoring CNG from this particular angle, that require replacement after so many years or so many compression cycles. I doubt if our “investigators” can pinpoint the causes and recommend remedial action. Our regulatory authorities just care about licensing so they can collect revenue for government so ministers and MNAs can get luxury hotels and cars and medical treatment abroad.
In our rush to get cheap fuel, safety has been ignored.
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Sad news. RIP
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Sad incident. May Allah grant them Jannat
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Endorsing comments of Mr. A. Khan. Pakistan is one of the country of over regulation, and governmental intervention in every thing. Several controversies had been around for licensing the buses, public transport for CNG. In view of the security situation in Pakistan whereby there is no metal gate, or checking when sitting in the public transport. With total reliance on buses for transportation, and trucks after the demise of railways, and airlines in Pakistan. NHA has an important role to check these issues of safety, of passengers. Till today even the seat belts are un-available in buses across the country. CNG should be completely banned from all public transport, buses, vans, school vans, ambulances, emergency vehicles, etc. They should essentially have ABS braking system, emergency calling, tire pressure monitoring system. Strict penalties with confiscation of the bus, van, commuter, jail, etc., should be enforced. All glasses in the bus, van, commuter should be tampered, laminated to protect the passenges. As there is no standard of glass in the buses. Passenger should be essential for every bus, van passenger in the shape of group insurance. If at all the best alternte fuel is the fuel cell which should be reccomended.
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There is no risk using CNG in public transport provided the Kit and the cylinder are up to the required quality. Govt. should take steps to have quality checks while importing these items at the first place. A substandard CNG cylinder is equally dangerous for public and private transport.
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@ A Khan and Interconnect, Thanks for excellent analysis and views. The bottom line is that no one in government and in public doing their job.
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In our country people die like flies and mosquitoes.
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Please correct the town name, its Khurianwala, not Kharianwala. This town is about 23 KM from Faisalabad on Lahore Faisalabad Road. Kharianwala is another town between Shahkot and Shiekhupura on the same road about 60 KM (aprox.) from Faisalabad.
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when will this government wake up this is the job of the transport department to check if the cng is safe in commercial vehicles when will we stop becoming soo much ignorant oh plz wake up
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Please be careful, check out ur CNG tuning at specific CNG centre.
This is lesson, if you don’t learn be ready to face it.
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@Sonia Wahab:
Even more then flies… Take example of Dengue
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the govt doesnt care about people beacase they travel in luxury cars which runs on hi octane petrol they dont care at all its the public who suffers thanks to defence budget
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