Turbat cylinder blast toll rises to six

Five children sent to a hospital in Karachi succumb to injuries

QUETTA: Five more children injured in a gas cylinder explosion in Turbat died on Friday, raising the death toll to six.

The deceased were identified as Abdul Malik, Murad Qatoon, Mohmmad Ayub, Mehrauddin Rafiya, and Mohammad Waris, according to hospital sources in Karachi. They were under treatment in a private hospital.

On November 28, a child was killed and 20 people suffered injuries after the gas cylinder exploded in a shop near the Turbat Park Hotel.

According to the Makran division commissioner, the explosion sparked a blaze engulfing a school van parked nearby.



The fire engulfed at least 21 people, including the students who were returning home from school.

The injured were taken to the local Teaching Hospital, said the commissioner, adding that one child succumbed to his wounds and five severely injured children were sent to Karachi for treatment.

Firefighters of the municipal corporation and personnel of the Frontier Corps and Pakistan Navy rushed to the site and extinguished the fire.

A state of emergency was imposed in all Turbat hospitals after the incident.

Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan expressed concern over the incident and ordered the local administration to provide the best possible treatment to the injured.

The chief minister also ordered immediate transfer of the severely injured to Karachi. He announced that the Balochistan government would bear the cost of their treatment.