KARACHI: Eight persons were injured and some vehicles destroyed when a powerful explosion occurred in a covered drain due to accumulation of gases near Lasbela Chowk within the remit of the Soldier Bazaar police station on Friday, police and rescuers said.

Rescue services and law enforcement agencies rushed to the scene and shifted the wounded to the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi for treatment.

They called the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) to ascertain whether it was an act of sabotage or not.

Area SHO Pir Shabbir Haider said that a road had been constructed near the Hashmani cloth market over the drain, making it airtight.

He said that the blast took place at a time when majority of the shopkeepers had gone to offer Friday’s prayer due to which only a handful people were affected.

He said the number of injured could have increased up to 200-300 as it was a busy commercial area.

A pickup, a car and motorcycle, some furniture and kitchen items of an eatery were damaged.

Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed said that the condition of one of the injured person was serious.

An area resident told Dawn that there used to be a fuel station at the place of the incident many years ago. Later, a building was constructed on the piece of said land, where the cloth market had been established.

He said that there was a dire need to end encroachment on drains to avoid such incidents.

East-SSP Zubair Nazeer Shaikh told Dawn that police were waiting for the final report from the BDS to determine the exact cause of the explosion.

However, an initial probe revealed that the explosion had taken place due to accumulation of gases inside the drain, he added.

This is not the first incident of its kind. In December 2021, some 16 people were killed and many others injured when a building housing a private bank in the Shershah area collapsed due to a huge gas explosion in a drain on which it was constructed.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2023