Man dies, 3 injured in explosion and fire

Trailer truck carrying firecrackers from Lahore causes explosion.

HYDERABAD: A man was killed and three others were injured when a warehouse caught fire in Hyderabad on Thursday.

A trailer truck from Lahore was offloading at the warehouse, located in Hala Naka, when a carton of chemicals fell on the road and caused a loud explosion, after which a fire spread around the building.

There were four men inside the warehouse but one of them had died by the time rescue teams arrived. The injured men, Kamran, Ali Mardan and Ali Hasan, were pulled out with severe burns and were taken to Civil Hospital, Hyderabad. The doctors said that Kamran is in critical condition.

The fire trucks reached the site and were being supervised by fire officer Shaukat Kazmi, who said that they managed to control the flames after struggling for at least two hours.

The explosion before the fire had also caused panic in the neighbourhood, where everyone thought that it was a bomb blast. DPO Hyderabad Munir Ahmed Shaikh also reached the site with a heavy contingent of police. He surveyed the warehouse and met the victims at the hospital.

One of the victims told Shaikh that the explosion took place while they were taking cartons off the truck and putting them inside the warehouse. Some of the cartons were carrying firecrackers and explosives used in manufacturing firecrackers and that is what caused the fire.

Sources said that the material was being transported from Lahore to Hyderabad and the order was booked under the name of Nasir.

According to the police, the owner of the warehouse, Tabish, was present at the site but he escaped when the explosion took place. As soon as the fire broke out, the trailer driver also ran and drove the vehicle away at a safe distance from the warehouse. Later, he also escaped with the trailer.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 26^th, 2010.