MULTAN: At least six people including four women were killed and 24 others injured as a passenger van caught fire after gas cylinder fixed inside it exploded in Multan on Sunday. The mishap occurred near the Head Muhammad Wala area of the city. The van was on its way to Multan from Sarwar Shaheed Chowk.
Rescue workers rushed to the scene and shifted the bodies and the injured to Nishtar Hospital.
The injured, which included 10 women and seven children, have been admitted to a nearby hospital.
According to police, the incident was caused by a short circuit in the vehicle. They said that all passengers in the van belonged to the same family.
The mishap comes a few days after an overturned oil tanker exploded on the outskirts of Bahawalpur, killing more than 140 people and injuring scores more.
In a similar incident a day earlier in Faisalabad, at least three passengers, including two women, were killed and nine others suffered injuries when a gas cylinder exploded inside a wagon on Faisalabad-Sheikhupura Road near Shahkot. According to police, a passenger wagon was heading towards Faisalabad and when it reached near Shahkot City on Faisalabad-Sheikhupura Road, its gas cylinder exploded. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has expressed deep sense of sorrow and grief over the loss of precious human lives due to fire in a van near Head Muhammad Wala in Multan. He expressed condolences and sympathies with the bereaved families and directed the administration concerned to provide best treatment facilities to the injured. He has also sought a report from the administration.
Published in Daily Times, July 3rd, 2017.
