Two injured in gas cylinder blast in Haripur

HARIPUR: Two teenage brothers suffered burn injuries when a gas cylinder burst with a bang after catching fire in the limits of City police station Haripur, police and eye- witnesses said on Friday.

They said that Bilal Khan, 19, and his younger brother Muhammad Usman, 16, were busy decanting LPG cylinder at their shop situated on the Western Circular Road near District Secretariat when one of the cylinders burst with a bang after catching fire.

The blast was so severe that the shopkeepers of neighbouring shops ran for shelter. The blast left the brothers seriously injured. The injured were shifted to Haripur Trauma Centre from where they were referred to Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad. According to doctors, both the injured suffered 70 percent burn injuries and their condition was critical.

After the cylinder blast, Assistant Commissioner Hassan Ehsan sealed the shop and the police registered criminal case against the owner for violating the ban on decanting.