Four killed in cylinder blast at ice factory

KARACHI:

Three labourers and a boy died in an incident of leakage and explosion of a cylinder filled with ammonia gas in an ice factory in New Saeedabad Taluka in Matiari district on Tuesday.

The police said that the explosion took place during some repair works in the factory.

They said that the two labourers Ali Baksh Dahiri and Mithu Maachi and 14-year-old Majid Solangi, who lived in a neighbouring house, died in the blast while the technician, Khan Muhammad Mallah, was shifted to Liaquat University Hospital but he succumbed to his injuries on the way. The factory's contractor Shabbir Shaikh fell unconscious.

DSP Syed Wahid Shah told the media that ammonia's odour spread around the locality after the blast.

The DSP said an investigation into the incident has been initiated.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20^th, 2024.