Police have registered a case against multiple suspects, including the owner of an allegedly illegal firecracker factory in Hyderabad, where an explosion occurred yesterday. As a result of the explosion, at least nine people have died so far.

The first information report (FIR), a copy of which is available with Dawn, was registered yesterday on the complaint of B-Section Station House Officer (SHO) Niaz Panhwar.

It invoked Sections 322 (punishment for intentional murder), 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 286 (negligent conduct with respect explosive substance), 336 (punishment for mutilation or dismemberment of a limb), 336-B (punishment for hurt by corrosive substance), 337-H (punishment for hurt by a rash or negligent act) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code, read with the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

Factory owner Asad Yousafzai and his alleged accomplices, Rashid Khan, Dilshad Khan, Arshad and Shakeel Punjabi, have been nominated as suspects in the FIR.

The FIR quoted SHO Panhwar as saying that he received information about the explosion and resultant fire at the factory at 4.03pm. He further stated in his complaint that police, fire brigade and rescue officials rushed to the spot, where he found some bodies upon his arrival. The injured, he added, were taken to the hospital in Edhi ambulances.

The SHO said three of the deceased could not immediately be identified.

According to him, factory owner Asad Yousufzai and his accomplices had set up the factory illegally in the riverine area of Hyderabad’s Latifabad. Human lives were lost when the explosion occurred at the site, and human limbs were found at the spot, he said.

Separately, Hyderabad Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Adeel Chandio told Dawn that police had arrested some of the suspects, but prime suspect Yousufzai remained at large and raids were being conducted to hunt him down.

Death toll

The seventh death as a consequence of the incident was reported earlier today after another body was pulled out from the rubble of the explosion.

Rescue officials confirmed to Dawn the recovery of one more body from the rubble, which was pulled out late on Saturday.

Later today, Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital’s medical superintendent (MS), Dr Khalid Bukhari, told Dawn over the phone that two of the injured brought to the facility in Karachi had succumbed to their injuries.

They had suffered severe burns, he said, adding that one of the injured, who had full-thickness burns and whose left leg had been amputated, died today morning and another died in the evening.

Hyderabad’s Liaquat University Hospital (LUH) administration had been informed of the deaths, the MS said.

Dr Roshan Chandio, the registrar at the LUH burns ward, also confirmed to Dawn that two patients who had been shifted to Karachi’s Civil Hospital due to their critical condition had died.

Meanwhile, Hyderabad Deputy Commissioner Zain Ul Abedin Memon told Dawn that he had approached Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Vice Chancellor Dr Ikram Din Ujjan and LUH MS Ershad Kazmi regarding the identification of four of the bodies.

“The severely burned bodies have been claimed by their heirs, but DNA tests are required to confirm their identities,” he said, adding that he had written letters to Dr Ujjan and Kazmi, asking them to conduct the bodies’ DNA tests at the earliest.

He added that he had instructed that the heirs should be facilitated throughout the process and not be charged for the tests or other related formalities, considering the humanitarian aspect of the case.

‘Illegal factory’

Yesterday, Latifabad Assistant Commissioner Saud Lund had confirmed that firecrackers at the factory were being illegally manufactured in a house without a licence.

However, the Hyderabad senior superintendent of police said: “Initial findings show that the factory owner actually got a licence for some other spot, but he was manufacturing firecrackers at the present location.”

He said that the owner was absconding, and details of the factory’s licence were being verified

Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah took notice of the incident and directed the relevant authorities to determine the cause of the explosion and conduct a comprehensive audit of the factory’s safety measures.

Sindh Home Minister Lanjar instructed officials to immediately investigate the factory’s legal status and verify whether it held the required licence and adhered to safety regulations for manufacturing fireworks.