LAHORE – A powerful cylinder blast killed three labourers and injured two others at a gas cylinder manufacturing factory near Police Training School, Choong on Saturday.
The cylinder exploded at a time when workers at MZ Engineering factory were filling gas into a cylinder to check its capacity at around 1pm. The cylinder exploded with a big bang causing destruction. Rescue 1122 officials, Edhi ambulances and police reached the scene and started the rescue operation. The bodies were shifted to a morgue and the injured to a local hospital. The victims were identified as Rafique, 25, Suhaab Gul, 18, and Awais, 22, while the injured were identified as Ghulam Abbas and Faryad. Two of the victims belonged to the Choong area while Suhaab Gul was from Peshawar.
The blast created panic among the labourers of the factory and local residents who rushed to safer places. The sound of the blast could be heard around two kilometres away and shattered window panes of the factory and terrified policemen at the Police Training School (PTS). Police stated searching the area for suspects and ruled out the possibility of a terrorist attack. The bomb disposal squad also reached the scene. The families of the victims protested against the factory owner and demanded stern action. They said that the factory owners used substandard equipment and material for manufacturing gas kits and the Punjab government should launch a crackdown on all such elements. The labourers said that such factories were manufacturing live bombs which threatened human lives.
A senior police officer said that the factory was shut down immediately after the blast and no one was allowed to go inside. The Choong station house officer (SHO) said that the families of the victims filed a complaint against factory owner Abdul Manan and a case will be registered according to law. Separately, a 25-year-old man was found dead under mysterious circumstances at Napier Road in the Gawalmandi Police Station precincts. According to police, a passer-by informed police that an unidentified man was lying unconscious in an empty plot near Napier Road. Police shifted the victim to a local hospital where doctors pronounced him dead. Police made announcements at local mosques to identify the deceased but of no avail.
According to police, the deceased might have been a drug addict and died of an overdose. The body was shifted to the morgue for autopsy.
TRANSFERS/POSTINGS: Punjab Police inspector general (IGP) has issued ansfer/posting orders of four police officers on Saturday. SSP Muhammad Shahzad Sultan, PSO to IGP Punjab, has been transferred and posted as Police Headquarters AIG operations against an existing vacancy. Punjab Police Headquarters AIG Vigilance SSP Zulfiqar Hameed has been transferred and posted as Lahore Police Headquarters AIG administration against an existing vacancy. Punjab Police Headquarters R&D Deputy Director SSP Tariq Nawaz Malik has been transferred and posted as Punjab Investigation Branch SSP against an existing vacancy. Nankana Sahib Investigation SP Shahid Hafeez has been transferred and closed to Punjab Police Headquarters with immediate effect and until further orders.
