KARACHI, Nov 22: Four factory workers died and 26 others were wounded in an explosion at a cement factory in Nooriabad Industrial Estate near Karachi on Wednesday evening.

Sources said Nazir Hussain, Alam, Asif and Mir Hasan succumbed to wounds while five injured were in critical condition.

Edhi sources said the explosion occurred in the boiler of Essa Cement Factory. Rizwan Edhi said motorway police acted quickly and stopped a Karachi-bound passenger coach to shift the injured to Patel Hospital. Later, Edhi ambulances shifted four injured to Civil Hospital.

A doctor at Patel Hospital said six patients were in serious condition. “We received 20 patients with burns. One of them Alam succumbed to his wounds during treatment,” the doctor said.