Five injured in gas leak blasts

Fire erupted at a hotel, warehouse, where explosions occurred

KARACHI: Five persons sustained burn injuries as gas leaks triggered explosions at their workplaces in different areas of Karachi on Thursday.

Three employees of a hotel, located near Maskan Chowrangi in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, sustained burn injuries as a blast occurred due to gas leakage from a stove at the eatery. Window glasses at the restaurant shattered under the impact of the blast, a deafening boom resounded in the area and a fire erupted. A large part of the restaurant was engulfed and charred by the flames. Later, firefighters reached the site and doused the flames.

Meanwhile, police, Rangers and rescue workers also reached the site of the blast and shifted the injured workers to Dow University Hospital, located on Suparco Road. According to Gulshan-e-Iqbal Police Station Duty Officer Inspector Fazal, the injured have been identified as Habibullah, 50, Arif Hussain, 26, and Danial Kaleem, 25.

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The eatery’s kitchen, which lacked ventilation outlets, was gutted in the fire, said police, adding that according to the hotel’s workers, the gas pipe was completely detached from the stove during routine cleaning on Thursday morning.

Separately, two persons suffered burn injuries after a diesel tank exploded at a warehouse in Razzaqabad, in the jurisdiction of Shah Latif Town Police Station. As a result of the blast, a fire broke out at the warehouse.

The injured, identified as Mehtaab, 24, and Amir, 25, who worked at the warehouse, were rushed to Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital.

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According to Shah Latif Town Police Station SHO Muhammad Rafiq, the warehouse stores diesel and kerosene tanks that have an outlet for the release of gas. However, possibly due to the negligence of one of the workers, the outlet in one of the tanks was capped which caused the tank to explode, the SHO said. The blast occurred soon after the employees began work on Thursday morning, he added.

The SHO said that the warehouse’s owner, Raja Abdullah, has been instructed to report at the police station along with required documents and police have initiated an investigation into the incident.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2020.