At least seven killed as gas cylinder explodes in Balochistan's Chaman

• 25 people suffer injuries in cylinder blast, say police.
• 20kg gas cylinder exploded when lassi being distributed.
• Several rooms of the house collapse after explosion.
  

At least seven people, including five children, were killed and 25 others injured when a gas cylinder exploded inside a house in Balochistan's Chaman on Thursday.

A large number of residents, including children and women, were gathered at a house in the Torpal area of Chaman where lassi was being distributed when the gas cylinder exploded, police said, citing initial findings.

Police officials said a 20-kilogram gas cylinder kept in the kitchen exploded, collapsing multiple rooms and causing casualties.

Police and rescue teams rushed to the scene and shifted the bodies and injured to the hospital for treatment and medicolegal formalities.

A bomb disposal squad was also called in to determine the exact nature of the explosion, the officials added.

Last week, at least 13 people, including women and children, were killed after a gas cylinder blast caused a residential building to collapse in Karachi.

The cylinder exploded on the first floor of the multi-storey compound in Soldier Bazaar, a residential neighbourhood in the eastern part of the densely populated city, police said.

In a similar incident last month, a gas cylinder exploded at a hotel in main Usta Muhammad town, injuring one of its employees.

Other people sitting in the hotel escaped the blast, the police said, adding that the building, however, suffered damage.