At least 20 people including children died and ten others got injured when a powerful explosion rocked a chemical factory in Faisalabad early Friday, destroying three other factories and a number of houses, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Faisalabad police have arrested Crystal Chemical Factory Owner Qaiser Chughtai, Factory Manager Bilal and three other key members of the factory.
The case was registered against factory owner and entire administration at Mansoorabad police station on the complaint of Sub-Inspector Ehtesham. A case has been registered against seven people under various sections including murder, attempt to murder, and other charges. Factory owner Qaiser Chughtai, manager Bilal, and five workers have been named as accused.
According to the victim families, locals had complained several times about flammable chemicals as factory management stockpiled chemicals despite complaints from local residents. Among the victims there were seven members of a family. The funeral prayers of seven members of the same family was offered at Malikpur Kabaddi Stadium.
The boiler exploded with a big bang causing huge fire in the factory which was located in the Malikpur area of Faisalabad. The whole factory was destroyed in the blast, and several other factories and nearby houses also got a hit.
Soon after the blast, a massive fire engulfed the entire vicinity. A vehicle parked in factory courtyard was also destroyed in the explosion.
Rescue 1122 and fire-brigade teams rushed to the site and pulled out many people trapped under the rubble. Many adjacent buildings and factories were also damaged and roofs of several house caved in due to the intensity of the powerful explosion.
The injured were shifted to Allied Hospital for treatment.
Talking to media men, Commissioner Raja Jahangir Anwar confirmed that 15 dead bodies were recovered from the site.He said that four factories are attached in the Malikpur area of Faisalabad. He said, “The fire erupted due to gas leakage, which also engulfed other factories.”
He said that seven houses were destroyed, which were adjacent to these factories.He further revealed that 10 injured persons were shifted to Allied Hospital One in Faisalabad.
Three people were discharged from the hospital after receiving first aid. Two were shifted to the pediatric ward and two to the surgical ward of the hospital, and three were shifted to the burns unit.
The commissioner said that Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has directed to shift of the injured persons to Lahore or Karachi hospital. He went on to say that till now there was no need to shift the injured persons. The commissioner said that the quantity of medicines is satisfactory and injured persons were receiving all medical facilities.
It may be mentioned here that a day earlier a fire also broke out in a warehouse of a plastic pellet factory in Ghulam Muhammadabad area of Faisalabad.
The blaze spread over an area of about five marlas and the roof of the warehouse collapsed due to the intensity of the fire. However, no casualties were reported in the fire.
CM Maryam takes notice
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz took notice of the massive loss of lives and death in the Faisalabad factory tragedy while expressing heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims.
The chief minister directed the Faisalabad Commission to submit a report about the incident.