Illegal LPG shop claims lives of child, teen

Fire leaves two others injured, engulfs five outlets

LODHRAN:

Four people, including two sisters, were killed and two others were seriously injured in two fire incidents.

The injured were referred to the Burns Unit of the Nishtar Hospital in Multan.

Muhammad Irfan, 12, and Sameer, 16, died on the spot while Asif, 9, and Shahnawaz, 30, were injured when fire broke out at an LPG shop at the Super Milad Chowk.

Nine-year-old Asif was said to be in a critical condition as he received up to 70% burn injuries. Rescue 1122 team led by District Emergency Officer Syed Majid Shah reached the spot and extinguished the fire after some hectic efforts.

The fire at the LPG shop was so severe that it engulfed five other shops.

A car and a motorbike parked at a nearby shop were also gutted.

The second incident of fire took place in Hambalwala, a suburban village near Kahror Pakka, in which two daughters of Muhammad Ajmal, two-year-old Dua Fatima and four-year-old Sarah Bibi, died on the spot.

According to eyewitnesses, Muhammad Ajmal and his family had gone to the field to harvest wheat, leaving behind their daughters who had been asleep in the house when the fire broke out. Both children died on the spot.

Rescue teams rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire. An atmosphere of mourning descended over the district after the tragic incident.

The heirs of the late children were totally grief-stricken.

The cause of the fire could not be ascertained. An investigation was underway.

Meanwhile, taking note of the incident of the fire at the gas refilling station in Lodhran City, Deputy Commissioner Capt. Shoaib said that the owner of the LPG shop had already been arrested and a case registered against him.

In his absence, his brother had been running the business illegally who would also be prosecuted according to the law. He said that the Civil Defence Department would take action against all such shops in the district and have them closed down immediately.

“No illegal activities would be allowed in the district. If anyone commits such acts, the law will come into force,” said the deputy commissioner.

He also ordered the labour officer to take action against those involved in non-shop labour. The deputy commissioner said that those who played with innocent lives did not deserve any concession, and legal action would be taken against them.

Last year more than two dozen people lost their lives in five different fire accidents, but the Department of Civil Defence allegedly showed its apathy in cracking down on those who had been into such illegal businesses.

Some of the illegal LPG shops got shut down for a while but they reopened after a gap.

On the other hand, the Assistant Commissioner of Kahror Pakka, Mian Ashraf Saleh, arrived at the house where the fire broke out and offered his condolences to the heirs of the minor girls.

The Ameer of the Jamaat-e-Islami of Lodhran, Dr Tahir Ahmad Chaudhry, expressed his profound grief over the deaths caused by the fire at the Super Chowk gas refilling shop.

He urged the district administration to take immediate action against those involved in illegal gas refilling stations.

The Jamaat leader also accused the district administration of negligence due to which incidents of fire at the refilling shops had become commonplace.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2022.