A person was killed and five were hurt in a gas explosion at a Foodpanda office in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority on Monday, according to police, hospital and rescue officials.
The blast also caused substantive damage to five motorcycles and one car parked nearby.
Senior Superintendent of Police (South) Asad Raza told Dawn.com that the incident occurred inside the kitchen of the office, located near Khayab-e-Jami in DHA Phase VII.
“As a result, six persons suffered injuries and were immediately moved to the Burns Centre of the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital,” he said.
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The senior official told Dawn.com that a team of the bomb disposal unity (BDU) was called to the site. “After inspection, they came to the conclusion that the blast did not occur due to an IED (improvised explosive device) nor was any other type of explosive material found at the office.”
Subsequently, Raza said, a team from the Sui Southern Gas Company was called in to investigate the explosion.
Meanwhile, Gizri Station House Officer (SHO) Agha Mashooq said that the SSGC team, that inspected the place, ruled that the explosion didn’t take place in the gas line.
The officer said there were several gas cylinders inside the kitchen which were intact, hinting at the possibility of gas leakage or choking of a gas boiler that might have triggered the explosion.
He added that the police were probing the incident to ascertain the exact cause of the explosion and were seeking information about the company that provided cylinders to the food panda.
Separately, police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told Dawn.com that six injured people were brought to the Civil Hospital Karachi.
“Two of them identified as Zohaib Maqsood and Amir Sagheer sustained minor injuries and burns while three others namely Aneel Noman, Adil Mehmood and Shahrukh Shahbaz were admitted for burns and physical injuries.”
Syed added that an unidentified man, aged 28 years, succumbed to his injuries during treatment due to extensive burns and trauma to the skull.
Edhi Foundation spokesperson identified the deceased as Faiz.