SIALKOT, Feb 4: At least 17 people, including schoolchildren and a customs inspector, were killed and 35 others injured on Tuesday in a heavy explosion in two large-sized containers full of firecrackers, at Sialkot dryport here.

The 40-foot long containers were parked in the import shed of the dryport at Sambrial in Daska tehsil.

According to the official sources, customs inspector Shaikh Najamud Din of Lahore and a large number of labourers were unloading the two containers imported from China, when both blew up with an ear-splitting thunder.

The inspector, thirteen labourers and three children were killed on the spot, while more than 35 others sustained injuries.

The window glasses of Sialkot dryport’s Custom House and those of the surrounding buildings were shattered. Besides, more than a dozen houses, a school building, the dryport’s outer wall near the railway line and several other containers were badly damaged in the blast.

The majority of the dead were those who worked at the port, while the children were going home after attending their school.

Human body parts lay scattered all over the place while some of the deceased were burnt beyond recognition.

Among the dead, only the following could be identified: customs inspector Shaikh Najamud Din, Fazal Mubeen, Aqeel, Muhammad Asghar, Yasin and Adnan.

The law enforcement agencies were busy collecting the facts. However, no one has confirmed that it was a bomb blast.

The Sialkot DPO reached the spot two hours after the incident.

The injured were admitted to Daska, Sambrial and Sialkot hospitals in critical condition.

Emergency was declared in Sialkot district by the local government and the dryport was sealed after the incident.

Official sources said the containers had been imported from China by some Lahore-based importers, through a Sambrial-based clearing agency.

All the commercial centres, markets, bazaars and financial institutions were closed in Sambrial, Daska and Sialkot to mourn the tragedy