Industrial accidents: Fuel blasts leave 2 dead, 5 injured

Three injured are reported to be in a critical condition.

MULTAN/ BHAKKAR:

Two people died and at least five were injured in two industrial accidents in Multan and Bhakkar districts on Tuesday.

In Bhakkar, two men died and two were injured when an oil tanker exploded while it was being welded to repair a leak.

Police said Rana Ebaad, the owner of the tanker, had brought it to a welding shop in Adda Jahan after it developed a crack. They said the cargo tank was emptied for repair but some amount of fuel remained inside the tank.

The blast occurred when two workers, Shaukat and Raheem, were inside the tank working on the crack.  Gas accumulated inside the tank and reacted with the electric current that caused that explosion.

Both the workers died on the spot. Ebaad and his son, Yasir, who were standing next to the tank, were also injured. The injured men were taken to the district headquarters hospital.

Doctors treating them said that their condition was critical. They said they may be sent to Nishtar Hospital in Multan or to a hospital in Lahore.

Another blast occurred at an LPG cylinder refilling shop in Mandi Maweshian in Multan. Three men were critically injured in the incident.

Police said Asghar, who had recently set up the shop, and two passers-by were injured when one of the cylinders at the shop exploded due to gas leak.

Some shopkeepers in the market said they had reported the odour of fuel, an indication of a leak, to Asghar. They said he ignored them. They said the smell was getting strong.

Next, they said, he left the shop for lunch. When he returned and opened the shutter, there was a cylinder explosion.

Two passers-by were also injured. The injured were taken to Nishtar Hospital in a Rescue ambulance.

Doctors treating them said that Asghar was in a critical condition. The other two injured men, identified as Aslam and Akram, they said, were out of danger.

Salman, a shopkeeper in the market, told The Express Tribune that the blast was so severe that glass windows of three nearby shops were shattered.

Some residents of a nearby colony said that they also heard the explosion. Some of them said they panicked and rushed out of their houses.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2012.