A gas cylinder explosion and the fire that followed at a snack shop in Balochistan’s Turbat area on Wednesday claimed the life of a school-going child while injuring 20 other people, Balochistan Information Minister Zahoor Buleedi confirmed.
According to Makran Division Commissioner Sudal Loni, the explosion sparked a blaze which engulfed a nearby school van. Five of the severely injured children were transferred to Karachi via a special PIA flight but one of them died en route.
Following the incident, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan expressed grief and concerns over the incident and directed the local administration to provide the best treatment facilities to the injured. He said that the severely injured must be transferred to Karachi without any delay and the provincial government would bear their treatment costs.
The commissioner further said that a state of emergency had been declared in the hospitals of Turbat. Following the explosion, firefighters and officials of Pakistan Navy and Frontier Corps reached the scene and extinguished the fire.
