MANSEHRA: Three workers were killed in a blast at a fireworks godown in Shinkiari town here on Thursday.

The police said the material meant to make fireworks, firecrackersand festive sparkleswas stored in the godown.

They said the low explosives went off killing workers Saiful Islam, 38, and Mohammad Ishaq, 30, on the spot and their colleague, Gul Mohammad, in the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital.

The bodies and the injured were shifted to the hospital by the police with the help of residents.

The police booked godown owner Mohammad Sajjad under the Pakistan Penal Code’s sections 322 and 324 and the Explosives Act’ssections 3 and 4and began an investigation to ascertain the cause of the blast.

The explosion was so loud that it was heard across the town and even its suburbs panicking people.

“Body parts were scattered at the site of the blast.

“The locals collected them and shifted them to the Shinkiari civil hospital,” said resident Mohammad Sajjad.

He said the smoke billowing from the godown covered the sky as the police personnel and fire tenders shifted the dead and the injured to the hospital with the help of residents.

The police cordoned off the area and stopped people from getting close to the godown.

District police officer Babar Afridi said the godown was unlawfully put up in the densely populated area.

He told reporters that he had ordered a crackdown on illegal fireworks factories and godowns in the district.

“All those carrying out this highly dangerous activity anywhere in the district without licence will be arrested and their premises sealed,” he said.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2024