HYDERABAD: Seven persons, six of them children, received severe burns when a blast occurred in the pole-mounted transformer (PMT) and it started spilling burning oil onto passers-by in Islamabad Mohalla, located within the Phuleli sub-division of Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) on Friday evening.

Power supply was disconnected in the area following the incident. Police and Hesco staff rushed to the spot and the injured people were shifted to the Liaquat University Hospital’s City branch. Some of them were shifted to Karachi in view of their critical condition.

The injured were identified as Bilal, 12, son of Zahid, Abdul Samad, 9, son of Arshad Naveed, Zulfikar, 9, son of Akhlaq Ghauri, Ganeesh, son of Ashok Bheel, Junaid, 20, son of Sattar, Ali, 14, son of Naeem, and Sajjad, 20, son of Feroze Solangi.

“I am taking my son to Karachi because of nature of his burn wounds. Doctors say that approximately 30pc-40pc wounds are there on his body,” said Arshad Naveed, father of Abdul Samad.

Besides Samad, two other children Sajjad and Junaid also received severe burn wounds and were referred to a Karachi hospital.

The incident occurred in street No. 3 of Islamabad Mohalla. Residents of the locality said that oil suddenly started spilling from the PMT and fell on passers-by. “One of the affected children was returning from tuition while others were standing underneath the PMT,” said an onlooker.

A motorcycle carrying a couple of the injured was partly burnt out as it was passing through the spot when the PMT caught fire.

Residents said the Hesco staff concerned had been informed about vibration in the transformer and requested to take remedial measures to avoid any untoward incident but it was not done.

A Hesco spokesman said that the incident took place due to “overloading”.

According to Abdul Haq, former union committee chairman of the area, the incident occurred at around 6pm. He said that Junaid and Sajjad have received severe wounds. “Since it is a thickly populated area, people gathered at the site and immediately shifted the injured to a hospital,” he said.

According to Mr Haq, the transformer caught fire first and then started spilling oil. “People promptly rescued Junaid when they saw fire engulfing his body. They extinguished the fire and rushed him to a hospital,” he added.

According to doctors, Ali has received 61pc burns, Bilal 16pc, Sajjad 40pc, Junaid 56pc, Abdul Samad 31pc, Ganeesh 17pc and Zulfikar 5pc.

According to the LUH medico-legal section, Sajjad, Junaid, Ganeesh and Abdul Samad received deep wounds with mixed pattern of injuries.

No Hesco officer visited the hospital to inquire about health of the injured.

Some residents of the locality also told Dawn that about half-a-dozen PMTs had been removed by Hesco for repair and maintenance over the last few days. Hesco staff were neither reinstalling/replacing them nor were they responding to queries about them.

Last year, a number of PMTs had fallen down in different areas of the city. Luckily, no one was injured.

A few years ago, a young man was killed when a power supply line fell over a rickshaw in the Cantonment area.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2021