BAHAWALPUR: As many as 20 people, including a student, suffered injuries in a gas blast in Islamia University Bahawalpur (IUB) and a road accident here on Thursday.

Rescue 1122 District Emergency Officer (DEO) Baqir Hussain told Dawn that the first incident occurred due to a gas explosion in the building of IUB’s Cholistan Institute for Desert Studies (CHIDS).

Seven people, including a student, were injured. The explosion damaged the building, causing about half of it to collapse.

The injured, including employees and a student, were taken to Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH).

Baqir Hussain said a leak in the gas pipeline caused the blast. The injured were identified as Muhammad Tahir, student Ishfaq, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Abdullah, Sajjad and Wajid, who were shifted to BVH, while Dr Liaquat Ali and staff member Abdul Ghaffar received first aid at the scene.

An IUB press release confirmed the gas leak explosion in the CHIDS building, stating that five staff employees were injured and shifted to BVH.

In the second incident, 13 passengers, including two women, were injured in a road accident which occurred when a tyre of a van burst, causing it to overturn, skid into nearby fields, and catch fire near Musafir Khana, about 24km from the Karachi-Lahore-Peshawar highway.

According to the DEO and police officials, the van was travelling to Bahawalpur from Sadiqabad. The tyre burst near Musafir Khana, causing the vehicle to skid into maize fields and catch fire after overturning.

Locals helped evacuate the passengers, who suffered serious injuries.

Rescuers and officials from the National Highway and Motorway Police arrived on the scene, cordoning off the highway. The rescuers though launched an operation, the van was almost burnt to ashes.

Rescuers could not determine the fire’s cause, but it is suspected that a petrol leak from the tank was involved, as the gas cylinder fitted in the van remained intact and did not explode.

The 11 injured were shifted to the BVH emergency ward. They were identified as Faiz, Zeeshan, Saif Ali, Muddasir, son of Sadiq, Fahad Jamal, Abdul Qadir, Bakhtawar Bibi, Parveen, Shahid Jamal, Akbar, and Muddasir, son of Kausar Ali. Two others, Ghulam Fareed and Ms. Urooj, received first aid at the scene.

BODY FOUND: The Saddar police claimed on Thursday to have found a body of an unidentified young woman from the small industrial estate area, Bahawalpur.

According to police officials, the body having torture marks was shifted to mortuary of BVH for postmortem examination. Further investigation is under way.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2024