Seven killed in Lahore cylinder blast

LAHORE: At least seven people were killed and four injured when a gas cylinder fitted in a van exploded in the Multan road area of Lahore on Monday, reported Express News.

The dead include a child and two women, and the injured are said to be in critical condition.

The explosion took place in the Manga Mandi area of Multan road. The van caught fire immediately after the explosion.

According to a child, who was onboard the van and survived the incident, the van was coming from Okara to Lahore and had filled gas before the blast took place. The conductor told the van driver to turn the gas on and that is when the explosion took place, she added.

She said that she jumped out of the van as soon as it caught fire, but the fire spread as other people were being evacuated.

CNG cylinders in vehicles have caused several explosions in the past, taking scores of lives across the country.

Despite a ban on the use of CNG in public buses, almost all transporters have converted their vehicles to run on the cheaper fuel option.

In 2011, more than 2,000 people died across the country in CNG cylinder explosions, according to a report released by a non-governmental organisation, Civil Society Front in April this year. In September, a boy was killed and several other passengers were injured in a similar blast in Karachi. As per ISO-9000 certified quality act, the annual or bi-annual inspection of CNG kits is compulsory.