PMT blast leaves four people injured in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: The city witnessed yet another a pole-mounted transformer explosion on Friday, resulting in four individuals suffering burn injuries.

The incident occurred in Site Hashmi Colony, leaving residents and authorities concerned about the safety of electrical infrastructure in the area. The injured victims, identified as Barat Pathan, Ali Hasan, Haroon Khan, and Sarmad Ali, were immediately transported to the Civil Hospital for medical treatment. However, due to the critical condition of two individuals, they were subsequently transferred to Karachi for further care.

Residents of Hashmi Colony in the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) Miran Shah sub-division said the transformer had recently undergone repairs and had been installed just two days ago.

The unfortunate incident took place while pedestrians were passing through the local market. The blast also damaged nearby motorcycles and vehicles. According to Muhammad Sadiq Kunbhar, a spokesperson for Hesco, the explosion was caused by overloading resulting from illegal power connections.

The unauthorized use of electricity put excessive strain on the 200 KVA transformer and that led to its explosion. In addition to the damaged infrastructure, two passersby sustained burn injuries as a direct result of the blast. To investigate the incident thoroughly, Hesco has formed a committee, headed by the general manager technical. This committee was tasked with preparing a comprehensive report within 72 hours, detailing the cause and potential preventive measures to avert similar incidents in the future.

This unfortunate event was not an isolated occurrence in Hyderabad. In previous incidents, transformer explosions had claimed the lives of 14 individuals in areas such as Latifabad during June and July 2021. Hesco sources have expressed concern over the prevalence of scams and unauthorised repairs conducted by uncertified individuals in the region. These actions contributed to the recurrence of such explosions, highlighting the urgent need for stricter control and regulation of electrical infrastructure maintenance.