One killed, five injured in house explosion

KARACHI:

A powerful explosion inside a house in the Ayub Goth, Sohrab Goth, on Friday evening spread panic in the neighbourhood, killing one person and injuring five others, including a teenage boy. Police believe the blast was caused by a buildup of natural gas inside the house.

According to officials, the explosion occurred on the first floor of a house located in the Rajpar Mohalla area of Ayub Goth. The impact was so strong that parts of the building's walls and debris fell into the street, damaging nearby structures and alarming residents, who rushed out of their homes in fear.

Police and rescue volunteers from Chhipa Welfare reached the scene shortly after the blast. The body and injured victims were shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where the deceased was identified as 25-year-old Irfan, son of Ghulam Asghar. The injured included 12-year-old Kamran (son of Haider), 40-year-old Asif (son of Kamal), 25-year-old Zubair (son of Dilbar), 25-year-old Zaib (son of Fida Hussain), and a 20-year-old unidentified youth.

According to DSP Sohrab Goth Aurangzeb Khattak and SHO Mumtaz Marwat, preliminary investigation suggests that the explosion was triggered by gas leakage inside a room rented by bachelors. A gas extraction pump was also recovered from the house, indicating that gas may have accumulated in the room and ignited by a spark or lit match. Police officials confirmed that the explosion was not caused by a gas cylinder blast, as no cylinder fragments were found at the scene.