The explosion led to a fire at the shop which spread to a catering shop, Shan Pakwan, located next door. PHOTO: EXPRESS FILE
The victims were on duty when a cylinder exploded with a huge blast which triggered a fire inside the factory premises due to the presence of inflammable material. The structure of the factory was also damaged. The victims, besides receiving burn injuries, were also hit by parts of the cylinder and building material which exploded in the accident.
The explosion created panic in the locality and nearby people and factory workers rushed to the site of the blast. On information of the incident, rescue and police teams reached the spot. Rescue teams removed debris and evacuated the victims. The deceased were shifted to the morgue while the injured were admitted to a nearby hospital for treatment.
A police team collected forensic evidence from the crime scene and recorded statements of eyewitnesses. The deceased were identified as Irfan and Younis while the injured were identified as Shahnawaz, Abid Hussain and Ishtiaq.
This is not the first incident in which workers were killed or injured in an accident at a workplace. At least 45 workers had died while over a 100 were injured in a three-storey factory collapse in Sundar Industrial Estate in 2015. Just two weeks after this incident, five workers were burnt alive in Haidri Steel Mill in Barki area in an oil tanker explosion.
Labour rights activists see poor working condition as the main reason behind such recurrent accidents which have claimed the lives of scores of workers.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 12th, 2018.
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