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KARACHI Two people were killed and over two dozen others injured in a powerful explosion that ripped through an illegal firecrackers' manufacturing factory and warehouse in the Gharibabad area on Friday, police said.
Seven neighbouring houses were badly damaged due to the explosion, which was heard from a distance of two to three kilometres, while the house where the explosion actually occurred collapsed.
The firecrackers manufacturing factory, Azeem Golden Fireworks, was housed on the ground floor of a 40-yard house in Gharibabad in the jurisdiction of the Sharifabad police station. A family also lived on the first floor of the house.
A gas pipeline passing through the area also caught fire following the explosion. However, the staff of the gas utility reached the scene and disconnected the supply.
Similarly, the power supply to the area was also disconnected to avoid any possible accident. Area people were the first to reach the scene of the accident after the huge explosion and they carried out the initial rescue operation with their bare hands by removing the rubble of the collapsed factory. After about 30 minutes, the staff of Liaquatabad Town reached the scene and removed the debris with the help of heavy machinery.
The body of a woman, who was later identified as Nasim Bano, was recovered from the first floor of the destroyed house. She was alone in the house and her four children were playing outside while her husband was at work at the time of the explosion.
In a late-night development, another body was retrieved from the rubble. He was identified as Azmat, 40.
A tussle between rescue workers of different charities was witnessed at the scene as they wanted to shift the body to hospital.
A large number of people thronged the scene hampering the rescue work. Police resorted to a baton-charging the crowd but a large number of onlookers did not move.
As the heavy machinery was being used in removing the rubble, rescuers saw the hand of a young girl underneath the concrete rubble. They initially thought that she was dead, but the girl screamed out saying “I am alive”. Subsequently, it was decided not to use the heavy machinery and people removed the debris manually. As the rubble was removed, it emerged that the girl was stuck underneath a concrete pillar and around 40 to 50 people lifted the pillar to rescue the girl.
However, the girl's ordeal did not end here because she underwent another traumatic experience when the rescue workers belonging to three different charities - the Khidmat-i-Khalq Foundation, Chhipa Welfare and the Edhi Foundation - exchanged hot words with each other as each one of them wanted to take the credit for her rescue and to shift her to hospital. Seeing this tussle, a senior fireman intervened and offered water to the girl who was later moved to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for treatment.
The Medical Superintendent of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Dr Mashood-uz-Zafar, told Dawn that 28 injured people were treated at the medical facility. The injured included 12 females and 16 males, of them seven are children, and the condition of all of them was stable, he added.
Some of the people who suffered minor injuries were shifted to the Sindh Government Hospital, Liaquatabad.
Provincial Minister Shoaib Bukhari visited the scene and was told by residents that they had already informed the police about the firecracker factory but the police did not pay any heed.
West Zone DIG Sardar Abdul Majeed told Dawn that the owner of the warehouse, Azeem Khan, was missing and the police were conducting raids for his arrest.
The DIG also suspended the SHO Sharifabad police station for his negligence from duty.
SP Liaquatabad Jam Zafar Dharejo said that an FIR would be lodged on behalf of the state against the owner of the firecrackers factory.
