KARACHI: The death toll from a massive explosion that rocked Karachi’s Shershah locality on Saturday has reached 17 and more victims are feared to be trapped under the building rubble.
The hospital authorities and the police had initially confirmed 15 deaths and 16 injured in the explosion. Later, two more bodies were pulled from under the debris, raising the death toll to 17, confirmed SHO Zawwar Husain.
Earlier, around 1:50pm a powerful explosion wrecked a private bank in Shershah (SITE area) of the metropolitan city. The boom was heard for miles and shattered windowpanes of nearby buildings besides damaging vehicles parked in its proximity.
The building housing the bank, near the Paracha Chowk, was built on Sher Shah Nullah and the powerful blast caused severe damage to the bank, killing and injuring most of the clients and staff.
The Karachi police spokesperson earlier said that a bomb disposal squad was called to examine the site of the explosion, adding that the cause can be determined with certainty once the squad submits its report.
The report, released later in the day, concluded that the blast occurred due to gas leakage and the accumulation of gases in the nullah underneath the building. The police spokesperson also said no evidence of terrorism had been found at the site of the blast yet.
Footage of the blast showed a damaged building and debris lying on the ground. Damaged vehicles could also be seen at the site of the explosion. People could be seen trying to remove the rubble.
DIG South Kharal said police have obtained CCTV footage of nearby places — the bank and an office. The police official said that a forensics team also obtained samples from the debris, and that the overall scope of the investigation had been extended.
Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill said Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf MNA Alamgir Khan’s father, Dilawar Khan, had also died in the blast. “We share the grief of Alamgir Khan and other bereaved families,” he tweeted, praying for the deceased.
Later in the day, in a message on Twitter, Prime Minister Imran Khan condoled with the families of the victims. He said he was “especially saddened to hear of the loss of our MNA Alamgir Khan’s father who also perished in the blast”.
Illegal construction
Two separate inquiries have been instituted as the chief minister of Sindh has asked the Karachi commissioner to investigate the incident while the provincial industries minister has asked the managing director (MD) of the Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE) to find out the exact cause of the deadly explosion.
The Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL), after examining the site, has also ruled out the natural gas leak possibility from its supply system, saying that there was no damage to its installation in and around the site.
The situation turned further complicated as key officials of the concerned district office expressed their lack of knowledge regarding any legal or illegal status of the affected building.
Mukhtiar Ali Abro, deputy commissioner-Keamari, was also not sure whether the building had been marked as an encroached structure during a recent survey for an anti-encroachment operation.
