At least 16 killed in explosion due to suspected gas leakage in Pak’s Karachi
Karachi (PTI): At least 16 people, including many children, were killed and 14 others injured when a suspected gas leakage led to an explosion in a residential building in Pakistan's Karachi on Thursday morning.
“The explosion took place around 4:30 am on the first floor of the building located in the Old Soldier Bazar area when everyone was awake for Sehri time,” police official Jamshed Asher said.
The first day of Ramzan is being observed in Pakistan today.
The police official said that the reason for the explosion apparently was a gas leakage.
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Due to gas shortage in Pakistan’s biggest city, many families especially in lower income residential areas use liquid petroleum gas cylinders at their homes.
Police surgeon Dr Samaiya Syed confirmed that they have received 14 bodies so far from the blast site while 14 injured are under treatment.
The explosion caused a part of the building structure to collapse due to its dilapidated condition.
“We are still searching through the rubble and debris to see if there are any more bodies or survivors,” Chief Fire Officer Humayun Khan said.
The deceased include at least nine children aged between two and 17 while the injured also include seven children.
This is the second major tragedy to occur in Karachi. Last month, a fire broke out in the basement of the Gul Shopping Plaza, a wholesale and retail market, in the Saddar area killing at least 79 people and leaving scores injured.
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Assembly polls: Rs 650 crore worth illicit cash, liquor seized; nearly half from West Bengal
New Delhi (PTI): Enforcement authorities across the four poll-going states and Puducherry have seized over Rs 650 crore worth of illicit cash, drugs and liquor meant to allure voters, the Election Commission said on Sunday.
According to data shared by the poll authority, Rs 319 crore of illicit cash, drugs, liquor and valuable metals have been seized from West Bengal, followed by Rs 170 crore in Tamil Nadu.
Over 5,173 flying squads have been deployed to ensure that the complaints are attended to within 100 minutes.
Besides this, over 5,200 static surveillance teams (SSTs) have also been deployed for setting up surprise nakas (broadly, barricades) at different locations, the poll authority said.
While Kerala, Assam and Puducherry go to the polls on April 9, voting in West Bengal will be in two phases on April 23 and 29. Tamil Nadu will have assembly polls in a single phase on April 23.
Assembly bypolls will also be held in eight seats across six states on April 9 and 23.
The data, EC said, has been collated from the Electronic Seizure Management System.
While assembly elections and by-elections were announced on March 15, the Electronic Seizure Management System (ESMS) was activated on February 26.
