Two killed in gas explosion

Police sources say gas cylinder burst inside three-storey building located within limits of Rawat police station

RAWALPINDI:

At least two people were killed and four others were injured in an explosion in a building in a housing society in Rawalpindi Tuesday.

Sources within the police department said that a gas cylinder burst with a loud explosion in a three-storey building located within the limits of Rawat police station. After the explosion, a fire broke out in different parts of the building.

Twenty-three-year-old Irshad and 50-year-old Israr died in the fire. Four others - Abbas Ali, Shamon, Noman and Naveed – were injured in the fire and shifted to the hospital in critical condition.

Rescue teams were dispatched to the society and were able to bring the fire under control. The explosion was so intense that the windows and doors of the three-storey structure as well as buildings adjacent to it. The façade of the building was severely damaged by the blast.

Following the explosion, the society administration had the building vacated.

Rawat police said that the incident appeared to be an accident and that an incident report to the same effect had been filed.

Meanwhile, a motorcyclist was killed after being hit by a passenger bus near the Sangjani Toll Plaza on Peshawar Road. Rescue 1122 shifted the body of the deceased to the hospital for post-mortem.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 26^th, 2023.