The death toll from the cylinder blast in Hyderabad’s Preetabad area has risen to 11 after two more victims, 40-year-old Faizan Ishaq and four-year-old Ali Raza, succumbed to their injuries at Karachi’s Civil Hospital on Sunday.
Faizan Ishaq’s funeral prayers were held at 4 pm in Faizan Madina Affandi Town, and he was buried in a local graveyard, according to The News. Later, Deputy Commissioner Zainul Abidin Memon confirmed that Ali Raza, son of Bilal, had also passed away from his injuries.
Hyderabad Mayor Kashif Shoro visited Preetabad to offer condolences to the victims’ families, expressing deep sorrow over the tragic deaths. He informed the bereaved families that the Sindh government has announced compensation of Rs1 million for each deceased person’s family and Rs500,000 for each injured individual.
The mayor also visited the burns ward at Civil Hospital in Karachi to check on the injured. He was accompanied by Nawabshah Mayor Qazi Abdul Rasheed, Town Municipal Corporation Nerun Kot Chairman Manthar Jatoi, Pakistan Peoples Party leader Farid Qureshi, and Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Municipal Commissioner Jam Zahoor Ahmed Lakhan.
The tragic explosion occurred on Thursday at a shop selling liquefied petroleum gas cylinders in Preetabad. After the first blast at 6 pm, a second, louder explosion ensued when people tried to extinguish the fire, engulfing the shop and igniting adjacent houses and shops in the densely populated area.
Initially, two deaths and 49 injuries were reported. The seriously injured were transferred to Civil Hospital Hyderabad, Combined Military Hospital, and Civil Hospital Karachi.
Eyewitnesses reported that the fires also damaged a rickshaw and injured several passers-by. Residents in nearby houses sustained burn injuries, and the fire brigade arrived 40 minutes after the initial explosion.
