Heavy chunks of metal fall in Karachi damaging graves, house, say police

Pieces of metal from a boiler blast in Karachi that took place a day earlier had fallen in a local graveyard, surrounding residences and a portion of the road nearby, the port city's police  said Saturday.

The police's remarks put to rest speculation among citizens, who had begun to wonder whether large chunks of metal came from some munition.

According to police, the shrapnel had landed at Mewa Shah Cemetery and SITE in the Pak Colony area, following which SSP Kemari Fida Hussain Janwari had mobilised concerned police personnel and sent a bomb disposal squad on site.

The police, after arriving at the location, took eyewitness statements and inspected the shrapnel — which appeared to be parts of a boiler from a nearby steel mill.

This led the police to go over to the steel mill in SITE's Haroonabad area, where they were told that the boiler explosion took place the night prior. Eyewitnesses verified seeing the chunks of metal falling out of the sky.

SSP Janwari said the steel mill's administration was shown the metal chunks and they identified them as parts of the boiler.

Police said the shrapnel damaged graves, whereas larger chunks formed a crater in the portion of a road in Pak Colony. Pieces of metal also fell inside a house near SITE's IGS battery factory, damaging it and injuring a person.

The authorities termed it an accident, ruling out the possibility of any mysterious objects falling from the sky or some terrorist activity.

No case has been registered in this regard so far, however, a probe is still underway.