A loud explosion was heard in Punjab’s Dera Ghazi Khan and adjoining areas on Friday afternoon. The district administration ruled out any act of terrorism and suspected a “sonic boom”.

The noise triggered panic among residents, with journalists saying the explosion was heard 25 kilometers from the city. Videos circulating on social media showed people vacating the area as rescue teams and police personnel arrived at the site.

Soon after it was reported, ‘Dera Ghazi Khan’ and ‘blast’ started trending on social media platform X. A number of people, with what looked like Indian X handles, speculated that the incident took place in the vicinity of “Pakistan’s nuclear research site”.

In a statement released later in the day, DG Khan Commissioner’s spokesperson Mazhar Sheerani confirmed that a loud explosion was heard in the city.

“Concerned departments have presented an initial report after investigation,” he said.

According to Sheerani, there were no reports of any kind of terrorism, vandalism, accident or damage as per Rescue 1122, police, sensitive institutions or public.

“There is a strong possibility that the sound barrier of a warship broke, but final confirmation is pending,” he stated, adding that no loss of life or any other damage was reported.

Separately, in a video statement on social media, DG Khan Commissioner Nasir Mehmood said “an explosion was heard in the city at noon”.

He said all the security agencies and eyewitnesses refuted reports of any bomb blast or other incident. “Concerned departments have said that no such incident took place in DG Khan or adjoining areas.”

The commissioner also said that noise was likely caused by the “breakage of sound barrier”, adding that such incidents were “normal”.