Tragic mishap: Two die, another hurt as gas tank explodes

Two more gas cylinders were present in the dental lab but were not affected by the explosion.

KARACHI: Two men died and another was critically injured as a powerful explosion ripped through a dental laboratory in Gulshan-e-Iqbal on Tuesday. The blast was linked to a gas cylinder, bomb experts said.

The victims, identified as Ayaz and Anwar, were workers at the lab in Block 13-D, Gulshan-e-Iqbal while the injured man, Faisal Siddiqui, owned the place.

The workers were preparing the formula to make artificial dentures when the blast took place, witnesses said. Both Ayaz and Anwar died at the spot. Siddiqui lost his right leg in the explosion.

A fire also erupted after the explosion and Siddiqui suffered severe burns, said SHO Haseeb Ahmed.



He was taken to Civil hospital’s burns ward, where his condition was termed critical. While initial investigation is under way, the case would be registered later.

Suspecting a terrorist attack, contingents of police and Rangers arrived at the site and cordoned off the area. The bomb disposal squad was also called in. The bomb experts ruled out, however, terrorism saying a gas cylinder caused the explosion. The blast may have been caused due to gas leakage, an expert told The Express Tribune.

At least two more gas cylinders were present in the lab but were not affected by the explosion. “The damage would have been massive if all cylinders had exploded,” he said. “The victims were killed as they were in close proximity to the cylinder in the small laboratory.”

Another blast

Earlier, a low-intensity blast on the top floor of a residential apartment complex near Nagan Chowrangi in North Karachi injured three people. The flat owner Altaf, his wife and his brother Ejaz were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital with minor injuries. The men run an electrical hardware shop on the ground floor of the five-storey building.

A manual improvised explosive device attached with a battery was placed outside the flat, New Karachi division SP Salman Hussain said. Altaf mistakenly detonated the device, which contained only three grammes of explosives.

A few months ago, unidentified suspects had placed a ball-shaped explosive device outside their flat, Hussain said. No clear motives could be deduced from the attack as the family, in their statements to the police, said they had never been threatened by anyone. Further investigation is underway.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd, 2013.