Cost of indifference: Mother, daughter burnt alive in LPG cylinder fire

LAHORE:

Blatant disregard for the law against the installation of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders in rickshaws resulted in the tragic loss of two lives on Walton Road on Sunday.

Factory Area police said a woman and her daughter died in a fire that erupted because of a leaking LPG cylinder in a rickshaw that overturned on Walton Road. People in the area managed to rescue the woman’s son, who was also in the rickshaw. He, however, sustained serious burn injuries.

Police said Hanifan Bibi, 50, a resident of Farooqia Colony, her 14-year-old daughter Urooj and 18-year-old son Bilal boarded a rickshaw in Cavalry Ground at around 1:30pm.

They said the rashly driven rickshaw hit a pothole on Walton Road and overturned. The LPG cylinder installed in the rickshaw had been leaking the whole time and caught fire.

Factory Area SHO Mudassarulllah told The Express Tribune that the rickshaw driver jumped out of the vehicle to save his life, leaving his passengers behind in the vehicle that burst into flames.

People in the area rushed to the scene and tried to extinguish the fire but could not. They managed to pull Bilal out of the burning rickshaw. The women were trapped inside the rickshaw.

Police said the fire that had swept through the vehicle almost instantly and the women were burnt alive. Rescue-1122 officials rushed to the scene and took the women to a hospital where doctors pronounced them dead on arrival.

Muhammad Tahir, a shopkeeper on Walton Road who had witnessed the tragic incident, told The Express Tribune that the rickshaw had caught fire while it was still moving. According to Tahir, in his attempt to put out the fire the driver lost control of the rickshaw which overturned. The LPG cylinder had exploded after the rickshaw overturned, Tahir said.

The rickshaw driver, later identified as Muhammad Faisal, fled the scene. Police said they were looking for him. An FIR of the incident was registered against Faisal. Police said using LPG cylinders in rickshaws was illegal.

The bodies of the deceased were handed over to their family. They refused medico-legal examination.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2014.