ISLAMABAD: Three people, including an infant, were killed and four others injured in a gas-leak explosion at a house in PWD Colony early on Friday.

The incident occurred on the first floor of the house in which the family of Laiq Ahmed lived on rent. Police investigation said due to leakage, gas filled either in the kitchen or a room. Fire erupted when someone ignited the stove or switched on the light.

The explosion led to the roof of the house caving in, trapping the family and two others under the debris.

Rescue workers extinguished the flames and shifted the injured to hospital where Mr Ahmed’s wife Bakhtawar Bibi, his one-week-old daughter and 14-year-old maid were pronounced dead. Mr Ahmed and his mother-in-law sustained about 60pc burns while his two children – a boy and a girl – suffered 35pc injuries. The condition of the injured was stated to be critical.

“So far the actual cause of the incident could not be ascertained,” the police said, adding neither the spot was examined nor any statement of the victims recorded.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2017