Hazardous explosion: CNG cylinder blast in van injures 12 people

Van driver escapes, the police impounds vehicle for further investigation.

HYDERABAD: An explosion in the CNG cylinder of a passenger van left over a dozen people injured, including eight with serious burns wounds, in Sanghar on Thursday.

The incident took place around 15 kilometres off Khipro tehsil near Samaro Shaakh on the road which connects Mirpurkhas with Sanghar district.

Twelve injured persons, including a woman, were shifted to the Mirpurkhas Civil Hospital from where six critically injured persons were referred to Hyderabad. Javed Arain, 50, Saifal Machi, 50, Jagu Kohli, 40, Abdul Rheman Sangrasi, 40, Rafique Hingoro, 45, and Hashim Jat, 45, were admitted in the Burns Ward in Hyderabad Civil Hospital.

According to Rafique Rajar, one of the injured at the Mirpurkhas hospital, the explosion occurred under the rear side seats. “We would have all died in the fire if the windows of the van were not open.” He said that many passengers, including him, jumped out of the open windows.

Regional Transport Authority’s (RTA) Mirpurkhas secretary, Pervez Hassan Qureshi, said that the van did not get a permit from the RTA for Mirpurkhas-Khipro route. Based on the initial investigation, he believes that the explosion occurred due to short circuit in wiring.

The van was equipped with three cylinders placed under the passenger seats, which is illegal according to the law. A public transport vehicle, fueled by CNG, has to obtain a fitness certificate from the Hydro Carbon Institute of Pakistan. The van’s conversion to CNG was also illegal, said the RTA official.

According to Mirpurkhas SSP Zafarullah Dharejo, the van driver Shero Langhani and his unidentified helper escaped from the site of the explosion. The vehicle, however, was impounded by the Sanghar police.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2013.