Cylinder blast claims four kids’ lives

Fire engulfs house within minutes after explosion

LAHORE:

Four children were killed, while a man and two other children were injured in separate fires reported in the provincial capital on Friday. The fires were caused by sub-standard gas cylinders exploding.

The death of four minor siblings was reported in a room on the fifth floor of a building in Azam Chowk, Ichra. The father of the children, Abbas was away on work and their mother had just gone outside the house when the incident occurred. The victims were inside a room in the house, a portion of which had been fashioned into a kitchen using fiber sheet.

All of a sudden, gas started leaking from the cylinder. It spread into the room and caught fire, causing the cylinder to explode. The fiber sheet and other valuables in the room were instantly engulfed. Eyewitness accounts stated that within the span of a few minutes, the fire engulfed the whole room, burning the four children to death.

Upon receiving information about the incident, contingents of police and Rescue 1122 reached the spot and launched a firefighting operation. They successfully extinguished the fire and moved the bodies to a morgue for an autopsy.

Senior police officers, including DIG Operations Lahore Ali Nasir Rizvi, also reached the spot and inspected the crime scene. He said that they would hold an inquiry into the matter.

The room was a stop-gate living arrangement and not properly designed for residence purposes. The deceased have been identified as 12-year-old Eman Fatima, 8-year-old Noor Fatima, 5-year-old Ibrahim Abbas and 2-year-old Ismaeel Abbas.

Panic gripped the mournful locality as a large number of bystanders gathered at the crime scene.

The other fire was reported in a house in the Choras Tanki area of Green Town. Reportedly, the fire broke out due to a gas leak in one of the rooms.

Read Gas cylinder blast triggers fire

As a result, three persons received burn injuries. They have been identified as 40-year-old Jahanzaib Khan, 10-year-old Hussain Jahanzaib and 12-year-old Bunyamin Jahanzaib.

Last January, at least eight people were injured after a cylinder exploded with a huge blast in a restaurant near Thokar Niaz Baig on Multan Road on.

Reportedly, a local small hotel was situated near the main gate of a private housing society. Some customers were sitting inside the restaurant. Suddenly, a cylinder exploded with a huge blast. The victims sitting inside were hit by pieces of cylinder shreds and other objects inside the hotel and suffered injuries.

The blast was followed by fire. The nearby people rushed outside to save their life. The blast sent powerful shockwaves in the surroundings and the people rushed to the site. They also called the police and the rescue service. The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment.

As per data compiled by Rescue 1122, at least 4,000 cases of fire were reported in 2021. Data analysis also showed that in summer the fire cases due to short-circuit and electricity (energy) related increased following increase in demand of power supply and poor electric wiring etc.

In winter, the fire cases due to cylinders and heaters multiplied. In most of cases, human error as well poor infrastructure were pointed out as the prime causes.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2024.