Owner claims blast at ice factory was caused by bomb

Authorities still suspect ammonia gas leak to be the probable cause of explosion

KARACHI:

As the authorities continue to suspect ammonia gas leak as the probable cause of the blast in an ice factory in New Karachi Industrial Area on Tuesday, the factory's owner has claimed that the explosion was a result of a bomb attack.

In a video statement issued on Friday, the factory owner, Moin Qadri, who had been staying in Britain for the past four months, said the explosion was a consequence of a "malicious act".

"It was a bomb blast," he insisted, suggesting that either someone threw the explosive device in the factory or it was planted on a car parked outside the factory.

Refuting earlier theories of the blast having occurred following a boiler exploding inside the factory, Qadri maintained that there were no boilers at the unit.

"There is no use of a boiler at an ice factory, where there is cold storage," he reasoned.

With regards to the suspicions of the blast being the result of an ammonia gas leak, he said although the factory has reservoirs storing ammonia gas, they couldn't explode. However, he added that there were chances of the gas leaking out.

Stating that factory employees had shut down the unit at 5pm on the day of the incident, he implied that locating the source of the explosion inside the factory would prove futile.

Agreeing that most such blasts were triggered by short circuit in machine rooms, he pointed that the machine room in his factory was not damaged in the blast.

"Meanwhile, my office, located on the factory's outer premise, and a car parked nearby it were completely destroyed," he added.

He further stated that another unit, where chemical were used, abutted his factory.

"Had the source of the explosion been in my factory's cold storage, [chemicals would have intensified the blast's impact] and all goods would have caused the goods to fling into the air and land outside the factory, [over a large area]," he contended. Hence, it is almost clear that the blast took place near the office on the factory's outer premise, he added.

Qadri said that he intended to come to Karachi at the earliest but the authorities had booked in the case for the blast. Appealing to the relevant authorities and the Sindh government to remove his name from the FIR so that he could return to Pakistan, Qadri further requested that the factory's surroundings and other units in its vicinity also be inspected in the blast probe.

He also claimed to have twice received threats of attack on the factory. However, New Karachi Industrial Area SHO Younus Khattak and investigation officer Ali Haider said that neither Qadri, nor any of the owners of units located nearby the former's ice factory have reported having received any threats over the past three to four months.

They further stated that they also didn't receive any complaints pertaining to the threats from the relevant industrial association.

They maintained that the explosion was likely caused by an ammonia gas leak as no fire had erupted following the explosion, which meant that it was not caused by any explosive material or devices.

The factory's ceiling and walls collapsed in the blast but no harm was caused to any of the goods kept inside it, including plastic drums, they said.

They further stated that the bomb disposal squad stayed at the site till late at night but couldn't inspect the site because the debris wasn't cleared yet. They fear the loss of evidence due to the slow pace of the clearing operation.