Gas leakage causes explosions in Paposh Nagar and Liaquatabad

A few days after a massive explosion at an ice factory in New Karachi that claimed 10 lives and injured 25 others, two more explosions took place in the city on Friday.

No deaths were reported in the explosions that occurred in District Central. Police and the bomb disposal squad rejected the possibility of any terror activity and declared that both the blasts occurred due to gas leakage.

The first explosion occurred at a branch of a private bank located on the ground floor of a multi-storey residential building near Khilafat Chowk in Paposh Nagar. The explosion could be heard miles away and it created fear and panic in the area, following which a large number of ambulances of various welfare organisations reached the scene.

Besides damaging the infrastructure of the bank, the blast also shattered the windowpanes of the nearby buildings. A heavy contingent of law enforcers, including police and the Rangers, also reached the bank and cordoned it off. Fortunately, no casualty was reported as the bank was closed due to the public holiday.

District Central SSP Murtaza Tabassum confirmed that the explosion had occurred inside the bank. He added that the bank’s shutter, windows, wall, a vehicle and two motorcycles were damaged in the explosion.

In its initial report, the bomb disposal squad suggested that a water tank in the bank had exploded due to gas leakage. Hours after the Paposh Nagar explosion, another explosion occurred in a factory in Liaquatabad that left three people injured. According to police, the blast occurred in a furnace of the factory.

Police said the injured were shifted to the burns ward of the Civil Hospital, Karachi, and all of them were out of danger. The injured persons were identified as Amir, 27, son of Naseer, Naveed, 23, son of Rafiq, and Faisal, 30, son of Ghulam. The bomb disposal squad’s initial report suggested that the explosion had occurred due to gas leakage. Further investigations are under way.