KARACHI: 3 die in rocket explosion

Published May 11, 2005

KARACHI, May 10: Three persons died in a rocket explosion in Baldia Town on Tuesday morning. Baldia Town Police Officer Javed Baloch said that the explosion occurred due to the ignorance of the junk collector who was trying to break open a live rocket in an effort to take out its constituents like silver and brass.

Muhammad Akram, a junk collector had picked up a live rocket shell from somewhere. He brought it at the shop of a scrap dealer Bashir Ahmed located in Ittehad Town.

According to the TPO, the explosive material collected by Muhammad Akram was being ‘dismantled’ at the junk shop without knowing the nature of the device which exploded in the process. The incident occurred at around 8:40am.

Police said that Akram died on the spot while Bashir who was present outside the shop and a passer-by Noorullah suffered wounds. A 10-year-old boy also sustained injuries in the explosion. They were shifted to Murshid Hospital, where Bashir and Noorullah succumbed to their wounds during treatment after two hours, the TPO said.

The victims were later shifted from Murshid Hospital to the Civil Hospital for treatment.

Police are investigating the case, particularly to ascertain the location from where Akram picked up the live rocket shell which led to loss of life.

BODY FOUND: The body of a middle-aged man was recovered from Maulvi Tameezuddin Khan Road on Tuesday morning.

Police said that body was stuffed in a black plastic bag which was recovered from a side road close to Bahria Complex. The unidentified body was shifted to the Civil Hospital for postmortem examination. Hospital sources said that the body bore torture marks.

Proper identification of the victim could not be immediately done, but name “Aamir Ahmed” was written on his hand, police said.