KARACHI: A man was killed and five others were injured when an explosion, said to be caused by gas leakage, ripped through the office of an online delivery company in Defence Housing Authority on Monday, officials said.

They said that the explosion that took place inside the kitchen of the delivery firm on Khayaban-i-Jami, Phase-VII, DHA caused substantive damages to the property, destroying a car and five motorcycles parked outside.

The Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) ruled out the possibility of sabotage and termed it a gas explosion.

SSP-South Asad Raza said that six persons suffered injuries and they were taken to the Burns Centre of the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi.

He said that officials of the BDS and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) officials called and investigations were under way.

The SSP said the BDS team inspected the place and concluded that it was not an improvised explosive device blast as no explosive material was found at the scene.

Gizri SHO Agha Mashooq said that the SSGC team, which inspected the place, said that their gas line was intact so it was not in their domain to investigate further.

He said several gas cylinders kept inside the kitchen and all of them were intact. He said there might be a possibility that some gas leakage or choking of gas boiler caused the explosion.

He said they were probing the incident to ascertain the exact cause of the explosion.

Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed identified the dead as 28-year-old Faiz, who sustained extensive burns and trauma to skull.

She said Zohaib Maqsood and Amir Sagheer sustained minor injuries and burns and Aneel Noman, Adil Mehmood and Shahrukh Shahbaz received burns and physical injuries.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2022