KARACHI, Dec 18: Additional district and sessions judge, Central, Nelofer Shahnawaz, on Tuesday adjourned until Dec 19 the hearing of a case pertaining to a boiler that exploded in a towel-dyeing and bleaching factory, killing nine people and wounding 25 others.

The court directed the superintendent of the Central Prison Karachi to produce the accused at the next hearing.

Akhtar Hussain Baloch, the owner of the factory and the man accused in the case, had submitted a bail application to the court through his counsel. While raising objections to the application, public prosecutor Mohammed Azeem Memon submitted to the court that the boiler operator did not have a license, that safety devices had not been in place and some of the tubes of the boiler that exploded had also been out of order.

He further submitted that the boiler did not have a heat intensity gauge and that there was documentary evidence showing that the factory owner was guilty of negligence since he was supposed to ensure that safety standards were maintained in his factory.

The defence counsel’s arguments in the application will be heard on Wednesday.

The statements of four prosecution witnesses were recorded in the case: machine master Riaz Ahmed, dyeing worker Habib-ur-Rahman, Nazar Hussain and the gatekeeper of a nearby factory, Mohammed Hanif. The court also summoned the other prosecution witnesses to appear in court and record their statements.

The blast occurred at a towel-dyeing and bleaching factory in New Karachi on Jan 24. A case (FIR 359/07) was registered under Section of 322 of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Taimuria police station.