QUETTA: Six people, among them five from the same family, died in gas-related incidents in the provincial capital.

Police said a seven-year-old girl died and seven members of the family had received burn injures in a gas explosion in the Killi Qasim Khan area of Kuchlak, some 25km of the provincial capital, on Thursday.

“The family went to sleep in their bedroom with the gas heater on due to severe cold. The heater went off due to low gas pressure and the accumulated gas caused a huge blast in the room when one person lit a match,” a senior police officer said.

As a result of the blast, the girl burned to death and her parents and five siblings received injuries. The room was badly damaged in the blast.

Residents of the area and police rushed to the site and shifted the injured to Bolan Medical College hospital.

In another incident, five members of a family died due to suffocation as gas accumulated in their bedroom. They had not switched the heater off properly.

During the last one week, eight people have lost their lives in gas-related incidents in Quetta, while 10 members of a family got burn injuries in Mastung town in a gas explosion.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2020