RAWALPINDI, Jan 22: A huge explosion occurred in a Sui gas pipeline under the Faizabad flyover on Thursday, resulting in low-pressure gas supply to various areas in the twin cities.

No casualties were reported in the incident, however, traffic had to be suspended on the busy Faizabad-Pir Wadhai Road to avoid any damage due to possible spread of fire, officials of the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) told Dawn.

A large number of people from the surrounding areas rushed to the scene. Most of the people were fearing that the incident might be another terrorists attack.

Traffic remained suspended in the area for many hours. The smell of the gas spread to the nearby Sector I-8/4 and Faizabad area, soon after the explosion at about 4pm.

The areas affected by reduced gas supply in twin cities included Sector G-6, Faizabad, Dhok Kala Khan, Shamsabad, Sadiqabad and Muslim Town. The SNGPL teams were busy repairing the pipeline till the filing of this report.

"We have not yet received the okay report from our teams, which are busy repairing the pipeline," Mr Akif, the on-duty engineer of the SNGPL, told this reporter.

He said the SNGPL's general manager Ismail Paracha, deputy chief engineer inspection and maintenance Liaquat Raza and senior distribution engineer metering Abid Rehman were present on the site to monitor the repair work.

Talking about the cause of the incident, he said: "One of the rusted blind flanges, which perform the function of a gasket, failed to sustain gas pressure and blew up."

"We have cordoned off the area and stopped traffic on the nearby road to avoid any disaster," Mr Akif said. He said the normal gas supply was likely to be restored to the affected areas within 24 hours. He, however, ruled out the possibility of any sabotage and termed technical fault as the cause of the incident.