Negligence : Gas leak blast kills one, injures seven

ISLAMABAD:

One person was killed and at least seven others injured in an explosion caused by a gas leak inside a hotel in Sector G-9 here on Tuesday.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Inspector Muhammad Khalid Awan of Margalla Police Station said the explosion took place due to a gas leak in a room in the basement of Laraib Inn Hotel on Rothas Road.

Sharing details, he said that the blast occurred at around 2 am after someone lit a matchstick. The fire quickly engulfed the two-storey building.



The building was completely destroyed by the fire and furniture and other items inside were reduced to ashes, he said.

The bomb disposal squad rushed to the hotel soon after the explosion to inspect and investigate the cause of the blast and three fire trucks also arrived at the site.

Awan said that eight people including two women were injured in the blast. He said that the injured were taken to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims).

“The injured people were mostly residents of other cities visiting the city,” he said.

Pims spokesperson Dr Ayesha Ishani said the hospital received eight injured persons at 3 am.

She said four of the injured — Qamar Abbassi, Mian Sarwar Gul, Abrar Ahmed and Mautbar Khan — were in critical condition and were admitted to the burn centre.

Mutabar Khan, in his early forties, died due to severe burns. Khan belonged to Lakki Marwat and worked as a driver.

Ishani said that Abbasi and Gul had suffered 70 per cent burns and their condition was still critical. Ahmed was in stable condition when this story was filed.

She said the other four injured persons — Abdul Majeed, Sayed Asif Mehmood, Mehwish and Dr Fauzia — were treated in the emergency department and were later discharged.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2014.