Industrial accident: Fuel tank explosion at Lahore steel factory kills five

Four others were injured in the blast

LAHORE: At least five workers were killed and four others were injured when a fuel tank at a factory on the outskirts of Lahore exploded on Monday evening in what is the second industrial accident in the city in the past two weeks.

According to eyewitnesses and rescue workers, some workers were busy in welding at the Haidri Steel Factory on Barki road, east of Lahore, when a fuel tank caught fire and exploded.

The explosion burnt five workers and injured four others and caused a fire at the factory.



Jamil Ahmad, who works in the factory, said that some workers were busy welding near the factory building when a nearby fuel depot, which holds about 750 gallons of fuel for the generator, suddenly exploded with a loud bang.

The explosion caused panic among the workers who ran for shelter. The rising flames from subsequent fire and the sound of the explosion attracted locals and soon a large crowd had gathered near the factory.

The injured and dead workers were rushed to the Gurki Hospital by Rescue 1122 and Edhi as fire engines fought the blaze.

Doctors at the Gurki Hospital said that they had received five dead bodies, which had been sent to the mortuary for an autopsy while they were treating four others. A factory worker identified the dead as Imran son of Abdul Rasheed, Muhammad Ashfaq son of Yusuf, Sagar and Imran. The fifth victim could not be immediately identified.

DSP Barki Talib Hussain confirmed the toll, while Hadiara station chief said that the victims had suffered serious burns.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has taken notice of the incident. Police cited jurisdiction to put off response.

Sajid, a worker at the factory, said that he had made repeated calls to the police but each time he was turned away on the pretext that the factory fell in the jurisdiction of a different police station. This meant that police reached the scene much later.

However, DSP Hussain said that the allegations of a jurisdictional conflict were baseless. He clarified that the factory was located firmly within Hadiara police limits while SP Cantt, SHOs of Barki and Hadiara had rushed to the site soon after the incident.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th, 2015.