Halanaka tanker explosion: Bail for suspects, but no compensation yet for survivors
On June 28 the vehicle with nitrogen gas blew up.
HYDERABAD:
Hope hangs on a thread for the people who survived an explosion when a tanker carrying nitrogen gas blew up on June 28, killing 16 people. As the victims and their families wait for compensation, the vehicle was released by the police and the men who were arrested are out on bail.
The FIR was registered with the Hatri police, who had kept the tanker in custody until now. “[It has been freed] on the orders of a sessions judge,” said Hatri SIO Ghulam Nabi Mughal.
The owners of the Multan-based Salman Brothers Gas Company - Salman Elahi, Sadiq Elahi, Rizwan Elahi, Muhammad Hassam Elahi and Muhammad Afzal Jutt - were nominated in the FIR but they got pre-arrest bail from a court in Multan. The driver, Muhammad Qasim Jutt, and cleaner, Nadeem Bhatti were also released on bail.
A total of 53 people were injured on the day of the blast. Three of them died later, four were critically injured and the remaining 45 suffered minor injuries. The families of those who died were to receive Rs500,000, those who were severely injured would get Rs300,000 and those who received minor injuries were to get Rs100,000.
Most of the victims were people who were working at nearby shops. Most of the scrap dealers, cushion makers, electricians, mechanics, paan sellers, Biryani vendors, hairdressers and owners of small restaurants either died that day or lost their helpers.
A shop owner, Muhammad Saeed, told The Express Tribune that his worker, 26-year-old Rasheed, had moved from Peshawar to support his family. Kamran, 20, whose Biryani cart was hit the hardest, has been unable to recover from the financial loss he suffered that day. After the blast, the government formed a committee, comprising MNA Syed Ameer Ali Shah Jamote, provincial ministers Zubair Ahmed Khan and Zahid Ali Bhurgari and Halanaka Shopkeepers Association president Haji Nasrullah Khan, who approved compensation in their January 23 meeting.
Another committee, formed to assess the losses to property and vehicles, estimated damages of nearly Rs3 million and Rs2 million against claimed damages of Rs9 million and Rs3 million, respectively. The six-member committee was made up of the revenue DDO, city mukhtiarkar, works and services DO, building control director, mechanical agriculture engineering deputy director and Khan. Hyderabad DCO Aftab Ahmed Khatri refused to give a fixed deadline for the payments. “A committee had approved compensation for the 14 deceased victims in October, 2010, but when two more injured lost their lives, the added paperwork caused the delay,” he explained.
The shopkeepers are sceptical. They said, however, that they will wait for Khan to try to “win” compensation for them before they protest.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 21st, 2011.
Hope hangs on a thread for the people who survived an explosion when a tanker carrying nitrogen gas blew up on June 28, killing 16 people. As the victims and their families wait for compensation, the vehicle was released by the police and the men who were arrested are out on bail.
The FIR was registered with the Hatri police, who had kept the tanker in custody until now. “[It has been freed] on the orders of a sessions judge,” said Hatri SIO Ghulam Nabi Mughal.
The owners of the Multan-based Salman Brothers Gas Company - Salman Elahi, Sadiq Elahi, Rizwan Elahi, Muhammad Hassam Elahi and Muhammad Afzal Jutt - were nominated in the FIR but they got pre-arrest bail from a court in Multan. The driver, Muhammad Qasim Jutt, and cleaner, Nadeem Bhatti were also released on bail.
A total of 53 people were injured on the day of the blast. Three of them died later, four were critically injured and the remaining 45 suffered minor injuries. The families of those who died were to receive Rs500,000, those who were severely injured would get Rs300,000 and those who received minor injuries were to get Rs100,000.
Most of the victims were people who were working at nearby shops. Most of the scrap dealers, cushion makers, electricians, mechanics, paan sellers, Biryani vendors, hairdressers and owners of small restaurants either died that day or lost their helpers.
A shop owner, Muhammad Saeed, told The Express Tribune that his worker, 26-year-old Rasheed, had moved from Peshawar to support his family. Kamran, 20, whose Biryani cart was hit the hardest, has been unable to recover from the financial loss he suffered that day. After the blast, the government formed a committee, comprising MNA Syed Ameer Ali Shah Jamote, provincial ministers Zubair Ahmed Khan and Zahid Ali Bhurgari and Halanaka Shopkeepers Association president Haji Nasrullah Khan, who approved compensation in their January 23 meeting.
Another committee, formed to assess the losses to property and vehicles, estimated damages of nearly Rs3 million and Rs2 million against claimed damages of Rs9 million and Rs3 million, respectively. The six-member committee was made up of the revenue DDO, city mukhtiarkar, works and services DO, building control director, mechanical agriculture engineering deputy director and Khan. Hyderabad DCO Aftab Ahmed Khatri refused to give a fixed deadline for the payments. “A committee had approved compensation for the 14 deceased victims in October, 2010, but when two more injured lost their lives, the added paperwork caused the delay,” he explained.
The shopkeepers are sceptical. They said, however, that they will wait for Khan to try to “win” compensation for them before they protest.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 21st, 2011.