Daska escapes a major disaster

Truck laden with 30 gas cylinders explodes a kilometre outside the town

DASKA:

The city of Daska escaped a major disaster when a truck laden with 30 gas cylinders heading for the city exploded just a kilometer off the city limits.

The van had been on its way to Daska to supply the cylinders to different customers when one of the cylinders began to leak gas leading to the other cylinders exploding and flying in the air.

The exact location where the cylinders exploded was described as Jandu Sahi.

There was a petrol station near the spot where the cylinders exploded. Fortunately, none of the cylinders landed in the vicinity of the petrol station.

The noise of the explosion was heard far and wide.

The pressure of the explosions made the other cylinder fly in the air. They landed in the open fields.

A video apparently made on a mobile phone shows the flames of the burning cylinders reaching sky high.

A man was heard on the video asking the onlookers to get back to a safe distance.

Some eyewitnesses said that when the first cylinder exploded the driver of the van naively got off his seat and went to the side of the truck where the cylinders were sitting in a bid to unload some of the cylinders.

However, he soon realized his folly and ran for cover with his helper, leaving behind the cylinders exploding one after the other.

The driver and his helper were reported to have sustained some burn injuries. They were shifted to the Civil Hospital.

The cylinders were supposed to be supplied to various shops in Daska.

The incident happened at a time when schoolchildren in the city were leaving their schools for home in a horde. The traffic in the city was at its peak. It is hard to imagine what would have happened had the van entered the city and had the cylinders exploded within the territory of Daska.

Rescue vehicles rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control and recovered the cylinders lying across the fields.

The people of Daska have demanded of the higher authorities to take notice of this incident and find out where the van had the cylinders filled illegally and why it was allowed to enter the city at a time when the city was buzzing with people, including schoolchildren and college students who had been going home.

They accused the administration of Daska of utter carelessness.

It is not just the small towns of the province that bear the brunt of administrations’ carelessness. It was reported last year that various localities were unfortunately infested with thousands of live ticking-bombs in the form of substandard LPG gas cylinders, leaving the society to fend for themselves when a blast occurs.

The report said that these LPG cylinders were most commonly used in various shops of the city and were operating without SOPs.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2022.