Gilgit explosion leaves 45 dead: Over 120 hurt, army joins relief work
By Safdar Khan
GILGIT, Aug 3: At least 45 people were killed and over 120 injured on Saturday night when explosives used in road works caught fire and detonated in the remote Darel tehsil of Diamir district, about 250km south of Gilgit, official sources said on Sunday.
Army troops have started relief work and shifted over 150 injured persons to local hospitals.
The Commander of the Force Command Northern Areas, Maj-Gen Tahir Mehmood, along with high officials of the Northern Areas administration has also reached Darel to supervise the rescue operation.
Chilas Assistant Commissioner Adam Shah told Dawn that a fire broke out in the house of Waris Khan, a local contractor, at around 9.30pm in Gayal village, and soon engulfed at least 30 nearby houses.
Waris Khan, who was given a contract to build an irrigation channel in the area, had stored 50 cartons of explosives and 1,300 detonators (fuses) in his house and had intended to use them to blast rocks, local officials said. The cause of fire was stated to be short-circuit.
Police said village people with the assistance of local administration had extinguished the fire.
Fazlur Rahman and Faqeerullah, two witnesses who brought their injured relatives to the DHQ Hospital in Gilgit on Sunday, told journalists that the death toll was that much high because a large number of people had gathered to extinguish the fire without knowing that explosives were stored there.
“We simply assembled around the house when we heard the traditional signal of gunshots which is usually given during an emergency in Darel,” they said.
“As we rushed to the spot to put out the fire, a series of blasts took place that rocked the whole village. About 39 people, including five women, fell victim to the fire after an stampede that followed,” they added.
Police said four injured died on arrival at a Chilas hospital, while one died on his way to the hospital.
REASON FOR HIGH CASUALTIES: Witnesses said the death toll rose as the houses in Gayal village, having a population of 5,000 people, was located in congested and fortress-like thick lanes. They said the fire completely destroyed 30 houses.
One witness said the casualties were high because several houses had collapsed after the blast.
“Many people were buried inside the demolished houses,” he said.
Houses in the village are mostly built with mud and stones and have wooden roofs.
Official sources said army helicopters shifted 26 injured people to the DHQ hospital in Gilgit where condition of three persons was stated to be critical.
“We have made all necessary arrangements to cope with the emergency,” Dr Shah Farman and Dr Behram Khan of the DHQ hospital Gilgit told newsmen.
The sources said over 63 injured persons had been admitted to the DHQ hospital in Chilas, while some of them had been shifted to hospitals in Mansehra and Abbottabad. Emergency has been declared in the Chilas DHQ hospital, they added.
The victims identified include Abdul Malik, Imam Malik, Aziz, Shakoor Khan and Izrail.
Some of the injured who were brought to the DHQ hospital, Gilgit, were identified as Zanat Gul, Dani, wife of Abdul Bari, Zakria, Alamgir, Hussain Ahmed, Kafi, Alam Khan, Lajdar, Matiullah, Abdul Mubeen, Azizullah, Hussain and a three-year-old girl Amleen.
The sources said 39 victims were buried on Sunday, as rescue workers were still searching for 13 missing persons who are feared to have died.
The local officials said they could not assess the damage caused to the property mainly due to emergency situation.
CONDOLENCE: Meanwhile, political and religious figures of Northern Areas have condoled the death of 45 people and expressed their sympathies with the bereaved families.
They also appealed to the federal government for immediate relief to the affected people.
DEATH TOLL: Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the death toll could be as high as 60, add agencies.
“This was an accident, it had nothing to do with terrorist measures,” he said.
The minister said the contractor did not take “adequate measures” to store the explosives at a safer place.
The government would take precautionary measures to avert such tragedy in future, he added.
Federal Interior Secretary Tasneem Noorani also said it was an accident, not an act of terrorism.
An official at the police emergency centre in Gilgit said 45 people had been killed. “The final toll may increase,” he told AFP.
Provincial Chief Secretary Saeed Khan told the agency that “41 people died on the spot.”
“Another 13 are missing,” he said. Hospital officials said they had already received 45 bodies.
“At least 28 people are in critical condition,” Dr Mohammad Ashraf of Chilas hospital told AFP by telephone.
GILGIT, Aug 3: At least 45 people were killed and over 120 injured on Saturday night when explosives used in road works caught fire and detonated in the remote Darel tehsil of Diamir district, about 250km south of Gilgit, official sources said on Sunday.
