LPG cylinder explosion in passenger van kills 7
Police say explosion took place due to gas leak from substandard LPG cylinder in van; 13 injured shifted to hospitals
July 08, 2023
- Van with around 20 onboard meets accident on way to Kot Momin.
- Injured rushed to nearby hospitals in Sargodha and Bhalwal.
- The driver of private company's van flees site of explosion.
SARGODHA: At least seven people were killed and around 13 others injured when an LPG cylinder installed in a passenger van with around 20 onboard exploded in Bhalwal city of Sargodha district, police said on Saturday.
The van, a white Toyota Hiace, with a substandard cylinder filled with LPG gas for fuel, was en route to Kot Momin when the unfortunate incident took place.
The police said that the explosion took place due to a gas leak from the LPG cylinder. The vehicle caught fire right after the cylinder's explosion.
Eyewitness Kot Momin Police Station Head Constable Mohammad Shahid, who was heading to work, said that he was sitting on the front seat of the van when the cylinder exploded around 8:30am.
He said he got out of the van immediately. Then, he broke the middle and the rear doors of the van to take the passengers out as the flames engulfed the entire vehicle.
“I pulled some of the burning passengers out of the van but couldn’t save six to seven people present in the van,” Shahid said.
The injured were shifted to nearby hospitals in Sargodha and Kot Momin.
The rescue-emergency officer said that the condition of one of the injured was critical. He said that the process of identification of the deceased was underway.
Incidents like this are not uncommon in Pakistan as several passenger vans have substandard cylinders, with no quality and security checks in place.
An earlier version of this story reported that eight people had been killed, while the official toll was revised to seven.
