Cylinder blast leaves teenage boy dead

Eight family members suffer burns with one in critical condition

RAWALPINDI:

A teenage boy lost his life while eight others, including women and children, sustained injuries as a result of a powerful gas cylinder blast which ripped through a two-storied residential building in the Peoples Colony area of Race Course police station on Sunday morning.

The condition of one of the injured victims, who sustained burns up to 80 per cent, was stated to be critical.

The incident comes just a day after a gas explosion claimed the lives of three siblings while their mother and another sibling suffered 70 per cent burns at a residence in the Shamsabad area within the limits of Sadiqabad police station.

The explosion purportedly occurred due to a gas cylinder leak while area residents said the area suffered from severe gas shortage due to which most households used gas cylinders for cooking.

According to sources, in the aftermath of Sunday’s explosion in the Peoples Colony area, a large part of the two-storied house situated on Street 62 collapsed. They said a citizen named Imran Ahmed owned the house.

According to the rescue spokesperson, there was a gas leak from the cylinder in the house, as soon as the fire was lit to light a cigarette, the gas cylinder exploded.

Area residents said the blast caused by the cylinder was so severe that a large part of the two-storied house collapsed and the window panes of the nearby buildings were also shattered while eight people, including the head of the affected household, were buried under the rubble.

As soon as the information was received, the personnel of Rescue-1122 Rawalpindi and Race Course police stations arrived on the spot. The rescue personnel removed the injured from the wreckage and shifted them to a nearby hospital.

According to Muhammad Amar, the Station House Officer of Race Course Police Station, and Rescue 1122 spokesperson Usman Gujar, as a result of the blast, a 14-year-old boy named Sahil succumbed to his injuries.

They said Imran, the house owner, suffered 80 per cent burns and his condition was critical. Other injured included Faisal, 19, Zubair, 19, Fouzia, 38, Malaika, 24, Muskan, 14, and five-year-old Mehroosh.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29^th, 2023.