Gas Blast: Initial report states Sialkot Road blast was an accident

Bank officials were operating an illegal Sui gas connection; a pipe had been leaking for 2 days but was not repaired

GUJRANWALA:

A bomb disposal squad and other agencies declared the recent bomb blast in a bank on Sialkot road to be an accident.

The initial report mentioned that the blast occurred due to a leaking gas connection in the MC bank. Malik Riaz Cheema, the owner of the nearby building, which was destroyed due to the blast, submitted an application to the senior superintendent police (operations) contending that the bank officials were operating an illegal Sui gas connection. A pipe had been leaking for two days but was not repaired. Civil Line Police station house officer and injured security guard Habib Ahmed said that when they returned to the bank after prayers the power was out. “We lit a match to a candle and the blast occurred,” he said.

Sui gas chief operational officer Fazal Meeran Bhindar said during excavation on Sialkot Road the underground pipeline was affected and leakage was a result of the excavation.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th, 2011.