Hazardous jobs: Five die, five injured in fireworks explosion
A section of the building collapses in gun power explosion.
HAFIZABAD:
At least five people died and five were severely injured in an explosion in a fireworks factory in Thatta Khokharan area on Sunday.
The injured were taken to the district headquarters hospital, where one of them succumbed to his injuries. The condition of the five injured is reported to be critical.
Police said Muhammad Amin owned the fireworks factory. On Sunday, there was a huge blast due to gun power explosion killing four labourers on the spot. A part of the factory also caved in due to the explosion.
Rescue 1122 teams were called and the rubble was removed. As many as six injured men were pulled out from the rubble and rushed to the hospital, where one of them later succumbed to his injuries.
Those killed were identified as Zafar Iqbal, Muhammad Irshad, Muhammad Liaqat, Ghulam Mustafa and Imdad Hussain. Arshad, Umair, Zafar, Nadeem and factory owner Amin were among the injured. The bodies of the deceased have been handed over to their families.
Rescue officials said the entire area was jolted die to the explosion. They said the area was covered by dust and gun power smoke for at least two hours, which hindered the rescue.
Police said Amin had fled. They said Amin had been involved in the illegal manufacturing.
Several gun powered explosions had occurred in the area in such factories where owners had set up warehouses to manufacture fireworks illegally, they said.
Soon after the blast, District Police Officer (DPO) Malik Karamatullah arrived at the scene with a police team. The district police officer said that four cases had already been registered against Amin and his brother, Muhammad Ishfaq, for dealing in illegal manufacturing of fireworks. He said the two men had managed to get pre-arrest bails. He said he had directed a police team to probe the incident and look for Amin.
He said the Punjab government had ordered a crackdown on fireworks factories and banned them.
He said 30 cases had been registered against fireworks manufacturers in the last five months.
Afzal Karim, a relative of one of the injured, said he was informed about the incident by a factory worker. He said the factory owner had not provided the workers with any safety equipment.
Mohammad Rahim, brother of one of the deceased who had worked at the same factory, said, being illiterate they had few job options. He said labourers like him had to put their lives at risk to sustain their families. He regretted that they were “taken for granted” and there was little done to ensure their safety.
Later, MNA Saira Afzal Tarar issued a statement regretting the incident.
She said she would take up the issue with the chief minister to ensure that such illegal businesses were immediately closed down.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 4th, 2012.
At least five people died and five were severely injured in an explosion in a fireworks factory in Thatta Khokharan area on Sunday.
The injured were taken to the district headquarters hospital, where one of them succumbed to his injuries. The condition of the five injured is reported to be critical.
Police said Muhammad Amin owned the fireworks factory. On Sunday, there was a huge blast due to gun power explosion killing four labourers on the spot. A part of the factory also caved in due to the explosion.
Rescue 1122 teams were called and the rubble was removed. As many as six injured men were pulled out from the rubble and rushed to the hospital, where one of them later succumbed to his injuries.
Those killed were identified as Zafar Iqbal, Muhammad Irshad, Muhammad Liaqat, Ghulam Mustafa and Imdad Hussain. Arshad, Umair, Zafar, Nadeem and factory owner Amin were among the injured. The bodies of the deceased have been handed over to their families.
Rescue officials said the entire area was jolted die to the explosion. They said the area was covered by dust and gun power smoke for at least two hours, which hindered the rescue.
Police said Amin had fled. They said Amin had been involved in the illegal manufacturing.
Several gun powered explosions had occurred in the area in such factories where owners had set up warehouses to manufacture fireworks illegally, they said.
Soon after the blast, District Police Officer (DPO) Malik Karamatullah arrived at the scene with a police team. The district police officer said that four cases had already been registered against Amin and his brother, Muhammad Ishfaq, for dealing in illegal manufacturing of fireworks. He said the two men had managed to get pre-arrest bails. He said he had directed a police team to probe the incident and look for Amin.
He said the Punjab government had ordered a crackdown on fireworks factories and banned them.
He said 30 cases had been registered against fireworks manufacturers in the last five months.
Afzal Karim, a relative of one of the injured, said he was informed about the incident by a factory worker. He said the factory owner had not provided the workers with any safety equipment.
Mohammad Rahim, brother of one of the deceased who had worked at the same factory, said, being illiterate they had few job options. He said labourers like him had to put their lives at risk to sustain their families. He regretted that they were “taken for granted” and there was little done to ensure their safety.
Later, MNA Saira Afzal Tarar issued a statement regretting the incident.
She said she would take up the issue with the chief minister to ensure that such illegal businesses were immediately closed down.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 4th, 2012.