April 18, 2008	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 11, 1429

HYDERABAD, April 17: Seven people were killed and 14 others injured when a molasses tank of the Abadgar Sugar Mills in Bulri Shah Karim taluka of Tando Mohammad Khan district blew up on Thursday morning.

It is learnt that a mechanic was using a welding machine to plug a leak in the tank when the explosion occurred.

It shattered the tank into bits which flew all around, hitting the people there and also damaging the mill’s walls, tractors and trolleys.

The deceased were identified as security officer Abdul Hameed, mechanic Arshad Ahmed, laboratory chemist Abdul Aleem, security guard Hussain Bux Khoso, Mumtaz Sathio, Ahmed Nahiyoo and Abdul Majeed Lund. The injured, including general manager Syed Khaliqul Hassan, were admitted to the Liaquat University Hospital.

The accident occurred at a time when the management was about to announce the end of the crushing season. The occasion is usually marked by a simple ceremony. A whistle is blown and workers and officials greet each other on the successful closure of the season.

“All our officers were gathering as we had fixed 8am to mark the closure of the crushing season. But about 10 to 15 minutes before that the explosion occurred,” said the mill’s medical officer Dr Ali Raza Shah.

The explosion in the 5,000-ton tank caused chaos in the mill and adjoining areas. The injured and the bodies of the deceased were taken to hospital.

Tando Mohammad Khan district nazim Mir Inayat Ali Khan Talpur and DCO Ghulam Rasool visited the place. The district nazim announced that an inquiry committee to ascertain the cause of the accident would be set up.

“We are approaching departments dealing with forensic expertise and industries to include their representatives in the inquiry committee, in addition to officials of the mill and the district government,” said the DCO. The district nazim announced Rs50,000 for the family of each deceased.

Irfan Abbasi, a Hyderabad-based official of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who visited the mill, told Dawn that the molasses which spread over an area of 200 metres radius could cause environmental problems after evaporation.

He said the mill did not appear to have an emergency plan. There was no overhead water tank which is required to be near a molasses tank to be used in such an eventuality.