The police are chasing the factory owner as the authorities intervene against illegal fireworks, LPG outlets
In a city with ticking bombs, thanks to free-for-all LPG cylinders and fireworks, an explosion at an illegally operating fireworks factory on Saturday claimed seven lives and injured several others.
The deafening blast, heard kilometers away, razed the structure on the ground floor of Goth Major Baqar in Latifabad unit 10, where the factory, allegedly owned by Asad Khan, was operating. The death toll, initially reported at three, rose to seven within a few hours. The spokesperson for Liaquat University Hospital confirmed receiving four dead bodies, including three burnt beyond recognition.
The injured include people who worked at the factory. Of them, 45-year-old Sheraz Sanaullah suffered 100% burns, 30-year-old Waqas Arshad suffered 95% burns and 40-year-old Naeem Yousuf suffered 90%. Three other patients, 26-year-old Anas Akram, who sustained 40% burns, 30-year-old Kashif Arshad with 35% and Mushtaq Sadiq with 12%, were shifted to LUH’s burn unit for treatment. An injured patient, Musarat Irshad, was discharged after treatment.
Dilbar Halepoto, spokesman for Rescue 1122, informed that they received information about an explosion around 4:00 p.m. The structure in question, surrounded by an agricultural field, was close to the dam of the Indus River.
Halepoto recalled that the smoke billowed to far corners of the site and the mushroom cloud in the sky could be seen from a distance. Thousands of people, including officers, rescue personnel and government officials reached the scene for rescue and investigation after the incident.
Volunteers joined the rescue workers, equipped with tools and machinery to cut the rubble and remove debris, allowing the victims to be removed.
A video shared by Rescue 1122 showed a dead body trapped under the debris with the man’s broken leg as his only visible limbs. The body, after it was dug up, showed signs of being roasted alive. Both of the deceased’s arms seemed stiff and lifted upwards, as if in the last struggle of his life to prevent himself from being crushed under the debris. His identity remained unknown.
The police went to work in the aftermath of the explosion, searched the owner’s house and shops and found explosives from the home. A police official, who requested anonymity, told The Express Pakinomist that Khan had probably fled the city, as reflected by the last location of his mobile phone.
“Khan is going missing,” Hyderabad SSP Adeel Chandio said. He added that the factory was “illegal and was secretly set up near the river dam.”
The SSP said the police will wait for the families of the deceased before filing the case on the state complaint. He stated that police have launched an investigation to determine how Khan secured a license in 2020, but did not reveal why police did not take action against a facility operating with an expired license.
Security of license
On 12 November 2019, Khan acquired a 60 x 73 square meter agricultural land on rent in Major Baqar Goth from Muhammad Jameel. The land was acquired with Khan paying Rs2,000 monthly rent.
Three days later, he submitted an application to the DC Hyderabad for the issuance of a license for the manufacture, sale and purchase of “small flowers and colorful objects.” The DC office wrote to the SSP office to provide the applicant’s grade report. “… there is nothing in the case against him,” reads the SSP’s reply of December 9, 2019. “He is a law-abiding and peaceful citizen.”
The Sindh Home Department on 13 March 2020 issued a no-objection certification to Khan’s company, M/S Pakistan Fireworks, with address at Plot Number 131, Al-Rahim City, Latifabad. NOC was issued under Explosives Gazette, 2010.
Six days later, Khan finally secured a license, with a one-year expiry, from the office of the DC Hyderabad to “manufacture, possess and sell fireworks.”
However, the license was not issued to the address where the factory actually operated. On the contrary, the permit letter highlighted in bold the facility’s address as plot number 131, Al-Rahim City.
The SSP Hyderabad also confirmed that the factory did not exist at the approved address. The letter had also put a cap on possessing no more than 25 pounds of explosives.
On 30 May 2024, an explosion occurred at a shop selling LPG, killing 27 people including 20 children in Pareetabad area.
A similar blast visited Hyderabad again on April 29 this year when a fire swept through a huge scrap yard, a parking facility, a cottage industry and a cattle pen, causing explosions in several LPG cylinders. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
Despite such incidents, LPG refill shops along with those selling firecrackers continue to operate with impunity in Hyderabad.
Hyderabad Deputy Commissioner Zainul Abideen has issued a notification ordering action against illegal fireworks stocks. He has also formed committees to identify and close down warehouses, factories and LPG filling points operating in violation of the law.
The DC has directed officials to submit weekly reports and hold progress meetings, while citizens have been urged to report suspicious activities or illegal businesses at 022-9200244, according to the notification.
