HARIPUR: A tea shop was gutted after a gas cylinder explosion in the busy Mochi Bazaar, police and witnesses said here on Saturday.

However, the owner and his customers escaped unhurt.

Police and witnesses said when Babar, the owner of tea shop, left to deliver the order in a neighbouring shop, a leaking gas cylinder exploded with a bang, causing huge fire which engulfed the outlet. The blaze caused the shop’s roof to cave in.

The furniture and other items were reduced to ashes.

The fire engines and rescuers of tehsil municipal authority and Rescue 1122 and Pesco teams reached there and prevented the fire from reaching the neighbouring shops.

The owner estimated the losses to be in hundreds of thousands of rupees.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2019