November 26, 2007	Monday	Ziqa’ad 15, 1428

MIRPURKHAS, Nov 25: Two labourers died and three others sustained serious injuries when fire broke out following an explosion in an alcohol tank in an under-construction alcohol plant in the Mirpurkhas Sugar Mill on Sunday.

The cause of the fire is said to be sparks from wielding work near the tank. Labourer Ghulam Hussain Awan, 26, of Attock was killed on the spot and Abdul Ghani died in the Civil Hospital.

The hospital discharged the injured Akbar and Gamo after providing them first aid and admitted Abdul Qadeer for serious burns.

The fire, which is still raging, has now spread to tank No 2 and 3 and it seems the fire tenders called from Mirpurkhas, Sindhri and Digri can not control it. Power supply has been suspended to the areas near the mills as a precautionary measure.

The security officer of the alcohol plant Sher Khan told journalists that only chemical foam and not the water could put off the fire. The foam and the experts who would use it on the fire had been called from Karachi, he said.

The fire could not be extinguished till the filing of this report.

FIR NOT FILED: No FIR has so far been filed of the murder of senior journalist Zubair Ahmed Mujahid, who was killed late on Friday night in Satellite town when he was going home on a motorcycle with his colleague Wahid Pehalwani.

The Mirpurkhas DIG Mazhar Shaikh has constituted four teams to investigate into the murder.

The SPO of Satellite town police station, Atta Mohammad Nizamani, said that he had contacted the relatives of slain journalist and eyewitness Wahid Pehalwani a number of times but no one had so far come forward to lodge an FIR.

Meanwhile, dozens of people belonging to Arain community brought out a rally in the city in protest against police failure to arrest the journalist’s murderers.

The protesters led by Chaudhry Iftikhar Arain, carrying banners and placards, marched on main roads of the city and demanded early arrest of the killers.