Jhang mill blast claims eight lives

JHANG: As many as eight labourers died and seven were injured in a gas explosion of boiler section of a private sugar mill on the Shorkot-Cantt Road here on Tuesday.

According to Rescue-1122, a large number of labourers were working in the boiler section of the mill where the huge blast took place. As a result, labourers Muhammad Ishaq, Muhammad Aslam, Muhammad Khan, Muhammad Sajid, Muhammad Ashraf, Sarfraz, Yousaf and another labourer, who was shifted to the Allied Hospital in Faisalabad, died.

Abdul Waris, Muhammad Israr, Shah Shehzad, Muhammad Khalil, Muhammad Ali, Ghulam Rahim and Faisal sustained critical burn injuries. The police and Rescue-1122 teams reached the blast site and shifted the injured and bodies to the THQ Hospital, Shorkot.

The media manager Zubair of Rescue-1122 told reporters that according to initial probe, the blast occurred due to a gas leak in the boiler section.DCO Nadir Chattha while talking to the media said on the orders of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, a three-member probe committee, comprising Punjab industries secretary, commissioner and RPO Faisalabad division had been formed and a detailed report will be submitted to the Punjab government. Later, the committee visited the sugar mill and recorded statements of the staff and labourers.