Blast kills 3, injures 5 at PAF scrap depot

Three people were killed in a blast at Sargodha’s Pakistan Air Force (PAF) firing range in District Chiniot on Tuesday.
According to PAF officials, a blank cartridge exploded when three contract labourers were collecting scrap from the PAF Firing Range, Lallian, situated at Sillanwali-Badan Road. Officials reported five injured as well.
Earlier, talking to the media, Station House Officer (SHO) Khalid Mehmood Gondal of the Barana Police Station, District Sillanwali said the blast occurred in the scrap depot when labourers and employees were cleaning it.
Gondal added that the scrap depot was located in the 61-North Boundary (NB) area of the police station. He identified the dead as employees Umer Hayat, a resident of 63-South Boundary (SB), and Mushtaq, a resident of 103-NB, while Mumtaz, a resident of 138-SB, was a labourer.
Gondal said the PAF administration was not allowing the police to enter the premises, saying that they were handling the matter internally and waiting for permission from senior officials.
According to police officials, the cause of the blast was not clear yet adding that security officials from the PAF cordoned off the area while the fire brigade and rescue teams had arrived at the spot.
Three amongst the five injured were referred to the Allied Hospital Faisalabad due to their serious condition, police officials said.