Gas cylinder blast at North Nazimabad eatery injures three

Three passers-by were injured in a gas cylinder explosion near the matric board office in the North Nazimabad neighbourhood in the wee hours of Tuesday.

The blast occurred inside an eatery, causing damage to several vehicles parked in the vicinity. The explosion destroyed three neighbouring shops, while windows of the nearby buildings and houses were also shattered due to the intensity of the blast.

Other gas cylinders at the eatery, namely King Spicy Food Centre, caught fire after the explosion and a major part of it collapsed, creating panic in the locality. Extra contingents of police and Rangers immediately reached the site and cordoned off the area. Ambulances of different welfare associations also arrived on the scene and took the victims of the blast to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

Police officials said the eatery was closed at the time of the explosion. Shop owner Muhammad Abid reached the site after watching the news coverage of his eatery on TV. Abid blamed one of his employees for negligence, saying that he himself was busy with his mother’s Chehlum. “This shop was my only source of income, and now I have not only lost my shop but my family as well.”

He claimed that his shop had two gas cylinders but he found both of them undamaged. He appealed to the government to compensate him for his loss. Police officials said that all the three people injured in the explosion were passers-by. They were later released from the hospital after receiving medical treatment. The bomb disposal squad was also called in.

The investigators have ruled out the possibility of terrorism in their initial findings, claiming that the blast occurred because of a gas leak and also caused the shop to catch fire. Fire engines also reached the site to douse the blaze.

North Nazimabad SHO Muhammad Iqbal said that the explosion apparently occurred because of a gas leak from one of the cylinders, adding that the investigators did not find any criminal involvement in their preliminary investigation.