ISLAMABAD: Seven members of a family were injured in an explosion caused by gas leakage at Model Town Humak on Sunday.

Police said the explosion occurred after Mir Zaman, 70, woke up for Fajr prayers and turned on a heater. The house caught fire after the blast injuring the family. Rescue staff later shifted the injured to the burn centre at Pims.

An official at the hospital said Mir Zaman sustained 45 per cent burns, 30-year-old Najia Bibi, 40 per cent and 65-year-old Zulaikha Bibi, 30 per cent burn injuries.

“Four family members - Sher Zaman, 30, Farhat, 8, Farhan, 7, and eight-month-old Mohammad - were discharged from the hospital. The other three would remain in hospital for a few days,” he said.

Pims media coordinator Dr Waseem Khawaja told Dawn that every year people were brought to the hospital with injuries from gas leakage blasts. “People should be very careful while using gas heaters. There should be a ventilation system in houses because some people use heaters run by coal or kerosene and they die because of suffocation,” he said.

Meanwhile, a fire erupted in the basement of Parliament Lodges on Saturday night. Artificial ceiling, goods in a store and carpets of a mosque were burnt.

An official of Secretariat police Saleem Raza, told Dawn that the fire was caused by a short circuit. Deputy Speaker National Assembly Murtaza Javed Abassi ordered the CDA to conduct an inquiry.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2014