CHINIOT: Two passengers burned to death and seven others sustained injuries after a van caught fire here on Thursday on Faisalabad-Chiniot Road.

Reports said a fire erupted in a Chiniot-bound van due to a short circuit. As a result of which two passengers were burnt alive while seven others sustained injuries.

Rescue 1122 have shifted the injured to DHQ and Allied hospitals.

Chiniot District Police Officer Abdul Qadir Qamar said the van caught fire owing to a short circuit.

He refuted the report that CNG cylinders exploded, saying two cylinders were intact. He said the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority had allowed installation of two cylinders in a van.

A similar incident had taken place some two years ago when a fire broke out in a Lahore-bound wagon because of substandard cylinders, resulting in 23 deaths. After that incident, traffic police had launched a drive against installation of multiple cylinders.

Traffic DSP Tahir Nawaz said police were keeping an eye on wagons having more than two cylinders. He said violators were being prosecuted.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2014