Mother, two kids die in Karachi pizza shop explosion

KARACHI: A woman and her two children lost their lives while six others were seriously wounded on Wednesday when a gas cylinder exploded at an eatery in Gulistan-e-Jauhar. Panic and fear gripped the locality as the loud explosion was heard. Besides casualties, the explosion also caused damaged to three shops and vehicles, and shattered windowpanes of nearby shops and buildings. The explosion occurred at around 10am at an eatery that served pizzas in the Crown Garden Apartment near Mosamiyat in Gulistan-e-Jauhar.

Following the explosion, ambulances from different welfare organisations reached the site and transported the casualties to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities and medical treatment.

The deceased woman was identified as 32-year-old Fabia Ali and her children as four-year-old Fatima Ali and two-year-old Abdullah Ali. They were residents of Gulistan-e-Jauhar Block 4.

“The woman along with her children had arrived to visit her brother’s residence and had reached the building’s stairs when the explosion occurred, killing them on the spot,” said police.

The injured persons included Fahad, Ali Akbar, Javed, Burhan, Waqar and Rehan. Police said the blast was very loud and it also caused damage to three vehicles and three shops, including a pizza shop, battery shop and estate agency office.

A heavy contingent of law enforcers, including police and the Rangers, reached the eatery and cordoned off the area. Experts from the bomb disposal squad were also called at the explosion site to determine the actual cause of the blast.

Quoting initial investigations, police said the explosion occurred when a gas cylinder exploded at the pizza shop.

According to District East SSP Sajid Saduzai, the bomb disposal squad report said no explosive material had been found at the explosion site and the blast had apparently occurred after a gas cylinder in the kitchen of the pizza shop exploded due to gas leakage.

A vehicle of a power supply company was also among the damaged vehicles and three of its employees were said to be among the injured persons.

Police said experts from the Sindh Building Control Authority were also called to inspect the building after the explosion.

Earlier, on October 21, 2020, over half-a-dozen people lost their lives and several others were injured after a loud explosion took place in Karachi’s densely-populated Gulshan-e-Iqbal area. The deadly explosion took place at a ground-plus-four-storey residential building, Noor Apartments, located at Maskan Chowrangi within the jurisdiction of the Mobina Town police station. The site of explosion was just opposite to a gate of the University of Karachi.

Initially, police and bomb disposal squad had claimed that it was a gas cylinder explosion but later it was revealed that the blast had occurred due to some explosive material.