July 10 (EUROPA PRESS) –
At least seven people have died and ten have been injured after the explosion of a gas cylinder that has demolished a three-story building in Jhelum, in the Pakistani province of Punjab.
The district Emergency Services have informed the Dawn portal that the number of deaths had risen to seven after the recovery of another body.
“The seventh body belongs to a person called Qaiser, who owns a gas bottle shop,” said the head of the Emergency Service, Rana Mohamad Said.
For his part, the chief of the Jhelum District Police, Nasir Mehmood Bajwa, has reported that the explosion occurred in the same store, located in the basement of the building. “We have found between ten and twelve cylinders in the basement of the hotel, as well as several commercial cylinders,” he explained.
Bajwa himself has confirmed the rescue of 16 people from the rubble, and Jhelum Deputy Commissioner Samiullah Farooq has assured that the rescue operation will continue “until the last breath of life is rescued.
The explosion occurred around 9:45 a.m. Sunday. The rescue teams “responded immediately and began operations,” another official responsible, Hasan Tariq, previously explained.
On Saturday, seven people were killed and 14 others injured by a vehicle gas tank explosion in Bhalwal, Sargodha, also in Punjab province. And last month another five people –including three minors– died in gas cylinder explosions in various parts of the country.
