KARACHI, Jan 17: Three transport workers died and two others were injured when an air compressor exploded at an illegal bus terminus located off M A Jinnah Road on Monday.

SHO Brigade police station said the explosion occurred in the afternoon when a passenger coach was stationed at the Karachi Coach terminus and was being repaired. Police said two workers died on the spot while the third died on way to hospital.

They dead were identified as Rahimullah, Rafiullah and Faisal. The injured, Raja Wasim and Agha Jan, were rushed to the Civil Hospital for treatment. Police said there are dozens of similar units, and because educational institutions are also located near the terminus, any unforeseen situation might emerge in future, a senior police official remarked.

Police said people of the area are perturbed over presence of this terminus. The terminus is the cause of regular traffic jams in the area, they added. Sindh home minister Rauf Siddiqui, who visited the place of the incident in the evening, ordered immediate removal of encroachments from Lines Area, adds PPI.

The minister directed the TPO of Saddar and SHO of Lines Area to remove all unauthorized workshops and encroachments from Lines Area within 12 hours. He further added that stern action should be taken against those offering resistence, and their goods be confiscated. Rangers' assistance can also be obtained, if required, he said.

He also directed that inter-city buses and coaches should not be allowed in front of schools and colleges. Rauf Siddiqui directed that the bodies of the victims be dispatched to their native area by air on his personal expenditure. Later, he visited the injured at the Jinnah Post Medical Centre and directed better treatment to the injured on official expenditure.