LAHORE, Nov 26: Seven passengers, among them four of the same family, were killed and four others injured when a fire broke out in a moving van reportedly due to gas leakage near Manga Mandi on Monday.

The van was coming to Lahore from Sahiwal when the incident took place in the vicinity of Shamkey Bhattian area on Multan Road, a spokesman for the National Highways and Motorways Police said.

Four of the dead were identified as Tariq Mehmood, a 26-year-old resident of Pakpattan, his wife Sajida Perveen, six-year-old daughter Kiran, and Hafeez of Renala Khurd. Names of the rest of the dead, among them the couple’s four-year-old son, could not be ascertained.

Saddar Division Investigation SP Muntazir Mehdi said the van had both  LPG and CNG supply systems. The owner had installed a domestic LPG cylinder at the front of the vehicle, which, according to the police official, was a criminal offence. Two CNG cylinders were installed at the rear of the van.

Citing initial investigation, the SP said the gas started leaking from the LPG cylinder when the diver shifted the engine to LPG after running out of CNG. It is said the leaking gas caught fire either because of a cigarette or short-circuit. Immediately after the van caught fire, the driver stopped and fled but the passengers had little time to leave it.

Quoting ASI Khalid Pervaiz of Manga Mandi, Mr Mehdi said the van’s doors were closed and passengers were pulled out through windows. According to a Rescue 1122 spokesman, three men, two women and two children were killed.