House collapses in gas cylinder blast
A house collapsed as a fire ignited by a gas cylinder explosion swept through it in Orangi Town No 10 on Sunday. Seven people suffered burn injuries in the blast, while a woman, her four-year-old daughter, and newborn twins, were trapped under the debris.
Emergency services, police, and rescue teams aided by local residents, arrived at the scene. The injured were pulled out with the help of the community. The roof and the walls of the house collapsed due to the intensity of the blast, with debris falling into the adjacent house. The woman and her children were buried under the debris and sustained injuries.
The burn victims were shifted to the Burns Ward at Civil Hospital, while the woman and her children were taken to the Trauma Centre at Civil Hospital and JPMC. The injured include Irfan, 40, and his wife Anam, 30, their son Abu Bakr, 6, Furqan, 39, Muhammad Faizan Khan, 31, and his wife Rabia, 28, and Nida, 36. Iqra, wife of Fahad, her four-year-old daughter Zara, and her 15-day-old twins Hasan and Hussain were injured by the debris.
One of the newborns is in critical condition and was shifted to JPMC. Iqra, who suffered severe head injuries, is reported to be in a critical condition. Among the burn victims, one was treated and discharged after receiving first aid.
Residents have criticised the government for frequent gas load-shedding, which forces many to rely on gas cylinders. Despite prolonged outages, residents continue to receive high gas bills. A local woman speculated that the cylinder involved in the explosion might have had an improperly sealed key, leading to the explosion when the stove was ignited.
Police are investigating the incident.
Owing to shortage and supply cuts of piped gas, people are forced to use LPG cylinders refilled from rickety decanting shops.
On the last day of May, an explosion in a shop selling Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in a densely populated area of Hyderabad killed 10 and injured 40, mostly children aged four to 18 years, and two women, aged 25 and 55.