HYDERABAD: At least two people died and 49 others, mostly children and women, were injured in a fire followed by a big explosion in a shop of liquefied petroleum gas cylinders in Hyderabad’s Preetabad area here on Thursday.
When people moved towards the shop to put out the fire after the first blast at 6pm, another loud explosion took place, which engulfed the shop in flames and started another fire in some adjacent houses and shops in the densely populated area of the city.
As a result of the fires, 51 people suffered burns and were shifted to the Civil Hospital Hyderabad and Combined Military Hospital in ambulances.
According to eyewitnesses, one of the fires also burned a rickshaw and injured several passers-by. People sitting in houses around the shop suffered burn injuries as well.
The eyewitnesses said fire brigade staffers reached the scene 40 minutes after the first explosion, making matters worse.
Late on Thursday night, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah visited the burns ward of the Civil Hospital Karachi, where initially 19 people, including nine children and seven men, had been brought for medical treatment of their serious injuries. He inquired after the health of the patients and said 12 more injured persons were being transported to the hospital from Hyderabad.
He said one of the injured persons was later shifted to the Patel Hospital. On his instructions, Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho also visited the CHK.
The CM, who was accompanied by provincial ministers Sharjeel Memon and Nasir Hussain, said two of the injured persons – a woman and a 10year-old boy -- had succumbed to their injuries at the CHK. He directed the administration to provide best possible treatment to the patients.
Another 12 injured were in the burns ward of the Civil Hospital Hyderabad, and some were undergoing treatment at the CMH.
The RMO of the Civil Hospital said most of the burn victims were children and women.
MQM-Pakistan MPA Nasir Qureshi told the media that the incident happened in his constituency. He alleged that a fire brigade engine arrived late, and when it did, it was stopped and the rescue work could not be started.
Speaking to the media, Deputy Mayor Saghir Qureshi said soon action would be taken against those responsible in the municipal fire brigade department.
The blaze was finally extinguished after the arrival of fire brigade vehicles from Rescue 1122 and other towns.
After the accident, Hyderabad Mayor Kashif Shoro, Deputy Mayor Saghir Qureshi, Deputy Commissioner Zainul Abedin Memon, MPA Nasir Qureshi inspected the scene, and SSP Farrukh Ali reached the Civil Hospital and took a briefing.
The Sindh chief minister, the chief secretary and the IGP have taken notice of the incident and sought reports from the DC, DIG and SSP.
The deputy commissioner said the establishment of LPG shops in densely populated areas is illegal, and in this regard, shops have been sealed many times by the administration.
The DC said action would be taken against the owners of LPG cylinder shops as per the law, while wherever there are LPG cylinder shops in populated areas, they should be sealed immediately.
