Police have registered a case against multiple suspects, including the owner of an allegedly illegal firecracker factory in Hyderabad, where an explosion occurred yesterday. As a result of the explosion, at least nine people have died so far.
The first information report (FIR), a copy of which is available with Sunrisewas registered yesterday following the complaint of Section B Station House Officer (SHO), Niaz Panhwar.
He invoked articles 322 (punishment for intentional murder), 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 286 (negligent conduct with respect to explosive substances), 336 (punishment for mutilation or dismemberment of a limb), 336-B (punishment for damage caused by corrosive substance), 337-H (punishment for damage caused by a reckless or negligent act) and 34 (acts committed by several persons in furtherance of a common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code, read with the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.
The factory owner Asad Yousafzai and his alleged accomplices Rashid Khan, Dilshad Khan, Arshad and Shakeel Punjabi have been named as suspects in the FIR.
The FIR quoted SHO Panhwar as saying that he received information about the explosion and the resulting fire at the factory at 4:03 pm He further stated in his complaint that police, fire brigade and rescue officials rushed to the spot, where they found some dead bodies on arrival. The injured, he added, were taken to the hospital in Edhi ambulances.
The SHO said three of the deceased could not be immediately identified.
According to him, the factory owner Asad Yousufzai and his accomplices had set up the factory illegally in the waterfront area of Latifabad in Hyderabad. Human lives were lost when the explosion occurred at the spot and human limbs were found at the spot, he said.
On the other hand, Hyderabad Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Adeel Chandio said Sunrise that the police had arrested some of the suspects, but the main suspect, Yousufzai, was still at large and raids were being carried out to pursue him.
Death toll
The seventh death as a result of the incident was reported earlier today after another body was pulled from the rubble of the explosion.
Rescue officials confirmed Sunrise the recovery of one more body from the rubble, which was removed late on Saturday.
Later today, Dr. Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Medical Superintendent (MS) Dr. Khalid Bukhari said Sunrise by phone that two of the wounded taken to the Karachi facility had succumbed to their injuries.
They suffered severe burns, he said, adding that one of the injured, who was completely burned and whose left leg had been amputated, died this morning and another died in the evening.
The administration of Hyderabad’s Liaquat University Hospital (LUH) was informed of the deaths, the MS said.
Dr Roshan Chandio, burn ward registrar at LUH, also confirmed to Sunrise that two patients who had been shifted to Karachi Civil Hospital due to their critical condition had died.
‘Illegal factory’
Yesterday, Latifabad Deputy Commissioner Saud Lund confirmed that the factory’s firecrackers were being manufactured illegally in an unlicensed house.
However, Hyderabad senior superintendent of police said, “Initial findings show that the factory owner actually got a license for some other location, but he was manufacturing firecrackers at the current location.”
He said the owner was absconding and the factory’s license details were being verified.
Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah took cognizance of the incident and directed relevant authorities to determine the cause of the explosion and conduct a thorough audit of the factory’s safety measures.
Sindh Home Minister Lanjar ordered officials to immediately investigate the legal status of the factory and check whether it had the required license and complied with safety standards for manufacturing fireworks.
