It was a bright sunny day. On April 20, the playground in Dev Kallan Village, Kamahan Road, off Ferozpur Road, was the venue for a friendly cricket match. One of the teams belonged to Bahadurabad near Punjab Society whereas the other comprised locals of the village where the game was being played.

It was around noon that the players and their friends who were watching the match spotted a large number of colourful balloons. Apparently tied to each other they were in descent mode. Excited by the sight the players, most of who were in the age bracket between 12 to 20 years, abandoned their game and rushed towards the balloons which were getting close to the ground.

It was exactly at this moment that Qamar Abbas, 21, could not keep balance and fell on the ground and lost the race to reach the balloons before anybody else could.

What he saw moments later was something which is still on his nerves. Lying on his belly and trying to get up, he saw the balloons touch the ground from a distance.

On touching the ground they instantly burst into a huge flame and engulfed around 40 people within a split second, Abbas tells TNS in a voice choked with remorse.

He thinks the number of balloons was well above 600 which increased the size of the flame and still wonders why the balloons caught fire if there was no flame.

The balloons had reportedly been released at the time of the inauguration of the Walton Flyover by Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif. After staying in the air for a considerable period of time and travelling a fair distance they made a descent and hit the ground.

There are different opinions about the cause of the fire including the suspicion that somebody tried to rupture a balloon with the help of a live cigarette -- something which Abbas strongly denies.

The authorities investigating the case and the doctors treating the burn victims are keeping mum on the issue. When approached, they simply said investigations are underway and facts about the nature of the gas or chemicals would be shared soon.

A leading professor at a government university reveals, on condition of anonymity, that the practice is that helium gas is filled in balloons to make them rise in the air. This gas is inert and it does not catch fire but if someone uses hydrogen the risks of burning is involved.

Explaining his point, the professor says hydrogen does not need contact with a flame to burn; it can catch fire if the temperature around it has risen to a certain degree. Hydrogen is lighter and cheaper than helium but is avoided due to its inflammable nature.

He says though the gas used in the balloons has been burnt altogether, doctors can tell about it from the nature of the burns the victims received.

He suggests a complete ban on release of gas-filled balloons in public places.

A Lahore team of Madadgaar National Helpline, a rights-based organisation headquartered in Karachi, visited Jinnah Hospital to condemn the incident and lodged complaints on behalf of the victims with the Child Commissioner, Children Complaint Office, Ombudsman Punjab. The team complained that only five children were admitted in the hospital whereas the rest were discharged despite the fact they had also suffered injuries.

In this connection, the Ombudsman office has sought replies from concerned departments and officials.

The complaint says the victims should be treated properly and the government should announce compensation for them as they mostly come from poor families.

Qamar Abbas was not harmed in the incident but his three brothers got severe burns and two of them had to be hospitalised. He says it is a pity that the doctors are asking them to buy medicines from the market while the Punjab government has announced it will bear the expenses.

He recalls how he, with the help of some other people in his locality, took 21 victims to the burn unit of Jinnah Hospital on self-help basis just to be told that it was not functional. Most of them were discharged the same way against their will as they wanted to be fully recovered in the first place. Those admitted in the hospital have been accommodated in plastic surgery and surgical units, he says.

Abbas appeals to the government to consider the case with sympathy as some of the victims have severe facial burns and only plastic surgery can cure them.

He also says the victims who are in their homes were taken to the hospital and sent back after taking their pictures and getting their thumb impressions. "My request is that all the 21 victims be provided medical treatment and offered compensations.

"Secondly, we request that the inquiry results be made public so that no one becomes a victim to such a tragedy in the future."

Jafar Sadiq, a resident of Dev Kalan village, says he is not interested in any compensation or government help but it wants the government to expose the culprits. His son Rizwan, 15, was injured in the tragic incident and they are getting him treated by a private doctor.

He rubbishes the claim that someone touched a balloon with cigarette and fears some dangerous chemical or gas was used to keep the balloons up in the air for longer time.