Disasters & Accidents

At least 4 killed, 23 injured in building explosion in Pakistan

Islamabad, Oct 21 (efe-epa).- At least four people were killed and 23 injured on Wednesday in an explosion in a five-story residential building in the city of Karachi, in southern Pakistan, according to official sources.

The blast, the causes of which remain unknown, occurred early morning in Gulshan-e-Iqbal neighborhood, near the University of Karachi, the city’s police spokesperson Mohamed Fayyaz told EFE.

Khalid Hussain, a spokesperson of the Edhi Foundation – one of the largest nonprofits in the country and which is involved in the rescue efforts -, told EFE that four people have died in the incident and 23 have been injured, of which six are in critical condition.

“The first and second floors of the building are damaged. No one is under the debris now,” said Fayyaz of Karachi police.

He added that the incident was being investigated by the bomb squad team and the causes were yet to be ascertained.

The local newspaper Dawn, citing a senior police officer, said that the explosion could have been caused by a gas cylinder, a type of accident not uncommon in the south Asian country.

Building collapses are relatively common in Pakistan, mainly due to the poor state of the structures, explosions in gas cylinders or installations and sometimes also due to heavy rains.

In June, at least 22 people died and six other were injured in a building collapse in Karachi, Pakistan’s main financial hub and capital of the southern Sindh province.

In March, 24 people were killed due to the collapse of another building in Karachi, where authorities have declared around 150 structures, including both housing and commercial premises, as unsafe.

Moreover, Karachi is known to be among the most violent cities in the country. EFE-EPA

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