Cylinder blast leaves one dead in Bari Imam

At least five others, including three children, in critical condition at PIMS

ISLAMABAD: At least one man was killed while five others, including three children, were critically injured when cylinders of liquefied petroleum gas in exploded in a decanting shop in a suburb of the capital on Monday.

LPG leaking from the cylinders had accumulated in the Bari Imam cylinder store. When the shopkeeper switched on a fan for ventilation, it caused sparks which explosively combusted the volatile gas. The resulting blast damaged the store and an adjoining house where 65-year-old Mohammad Arif was living with his family. Another house in the neighbourhood was also damaged by the blast where three members of another family also suffered burn injuries.

A man who was passing from in front of the store was also injured by the blast.

The injured were rushed to the burns unit at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims).

Doctors at the hospital said that Arif, who had suffered 85 per cent burns to his body, died on Monday evening.

His two children including 15-year old Umar Shahzad and nine-year-old Zainab, who had suffered 100 per cent and 25 per cent burns respectively, were said to be in critical condition since they had inhaled large quantities of carbon monoxide and their wounds were deep.

Others who were injured in the blast were identified as 35-year-old Nawaz who suffered 55 per cent burns to his body, 14-year-old Zain who suffered 65 per cent burns.  Irsan Ikram, the 28-year-old passerby, suffered 50 per cent burns.

Police officials investigating the blast said that they will file a first information report against the owner of the store since it was illegal to run a decanting business in such a small store and without meeting any of the safety standards.

“People have opened such small shops in every nook and corner of residential areas and are filling LPG cylinders which is quite dangerous – as this incident has proved,” a police official said.

Meanwhile, officials at the burns centre at Pims say that apart from Monday’s incident, they have noticed an increase in the number of burns cases as the weather starts to cool and people start using heaters.

People should be vigilant about gas leaks and they should never turn on any electronic appliance if they feel there is a gas leakage since a small spark could ignite a fire.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2017.