TOBA TEK SINGH: Two children died and seven other members of their family suffered critical burns in a fire allegedly caused by explosion of a laptop’s battery in a house in Sharifpura locality on Satiana Road, Faisalabad late on Wednesday night.

According to Rescue 1122 officials, the explosion occurred when a family member was using the laptop while it was being charged.

They say that because of continuous charging the battery got overheated and exploded, causing a fire in the room where an air-conditioner was also on, and it too caught fire.

As a result, all the nine members of the family, including five children, suffered serious burns.

Rescue 1122 teams reaching the scene rescued the injured and extinguished the fire.

The injured persons -- Talha (9), his sister Dua Fatima (6),Rehan Raza (8), Eiman Fatima (4),Ibrahim Ahmad (3),Farhat Aslam (45),

Makki Raza (24),Rashida (40) and Nargis Ahmad (32) --were shifted to the burns unit of the Allied Hospital.

At the hospital two children, Talha and Dua, succumbed to their burns, while the condition of seven other members of the family was stated to be critical.

MAN BURNT: A man allegedly set a youth on fire following a quarrel over someissueat Gojra on Wednesday.

According to locals, after an exchange of harsh words, the suspect, Akram, sprayed petrol on a youth identified as Babar.

Locals rescued the man, who suffered serious burns, and shifted him to the Gojra THQ Hospital, where doctors referred him to the Allied Hospital’s burns unit.

The suspect, however, told the police that the victim attempted self-immolation after a dispute.

ACCIDENT: After a truck carrying beverages met with an accident, passersby took away the bottles of softdrink, in an incident occurring near Textile University on Sheikhupura Road, Faisalabad, on Tuesday.

Eyewitnesses say the driver of the truck, belonging to a multinational beverages company, abandoned the vehicle following it hit a motorcycle, leaving two men, Bilal and Sameeullah, injured. They were shifted to the Allied Hospital.

As soo as the passersby saw that the driver had fled away, they started stealing the softdrinks.

Because of the episode, the traffic remained blocked on the road where people alos suffled over the “free” beverages.

A footage of the incidsent also went vira on social media. Later, Faisalabad’s Millat Town police arrested two of the men who had stolen the softdrink bottles from the truck.

The suspects were identified as Arshad of Chak 203 RB and Kashif Maseeh of Chak 176 RB.A case has also been registered against the truck driver, Shabbir.

The police say when they reached the scene, only 132 pets of softdrink had been left in the truck, which were impounded, along with the vehicle.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2024