Three injured in another cylinder blast

Cases of illegal gas decanting are common in metropolis

LAHORE:

Three people were injured when a cylinder exploded in Shadman area. The incident was reported on late Wednesday night at a gas refilling shop.

At least eight cylinder blasts have been reported in the metropolis in the last two weeks in which at least one man lost his life and over a dozen were injured.

The shop owner was busy in refilling it. The other victims were present in a nearby shop at the incident time. The shop also caught fire. On hearing the blast, nearby people rushed to the site and called rescue teams.

Fire engines reached the spot and extinguished the fire. They also shifted the injured to a nearby hospital for treatment. The injured were identified as Abbas, Nauman and Fayyaz Aslam.

On June 30, at least four people were injured due to a blast in a house in Atari Darbar, Nishatar Colony. Roof of the house had collapsed due to the blast and four persons were trapped under the debris. The victims reportedly were busy in daily household works. A victim was busy in cooking food. Suddenly, the cylinder exploded with a huge blast reportedly due to gas leakage.

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The blast was so heavy that its sound was heard at a long distance. It damaged the house to the level that the roof just caved in.

A day earlier Nishter Colony incident, a man was injured in explosion in a shop during cylinder refilling. at least four shops and 10 vehicles were also damaged. The fire erupted to the other cylinders in the shop that also caught fire and started exploding with huge blasts with intervals. At least 14 blasts were reported that day.

As a result, four nearby shops and ten vehicles were damaged. Nearby people called rescue teams. Fire fighters reached the spot on information and extinguished it. The injured victim Boota was shifted to nearby hospital for treatment.

Three days before the Barkat Market incident, in Iqbal Town a 12-year-old boy had died in a cylinder blast at a shop. The deceased victim has been identified as Abdullah. He was nearby shop when a cylinder exploded with a huge blast during refilling.

Among other incidents, a blast was reported in DHA on June 24. On June 28, a fire case due to cylinder explosion was reported in Sabzazar. On July 04, at least three persons were injured in a cylinder blast in Rajgarh house. Another cylinder blast was reported in Batti Chowk on July 7.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2021.