Allah have mercy on the souls of those killed
Pakistan explosives blast ‘kills 17’
At least 17 people have been killed in an explosives blast in the central Pakistan city of Sialkot, police say. Reports say a container loaded with explosives for making fire crackers blew up. School children are believed to be among those killed. Firefighters are battling to bring the flames under control.
Officials are ruling out sabotage as a possible cause of the blast. Unofficial estimates put the number of people dead as high as 25. At least 35 people have been injured, some critically, reports say. Ambulance crews rushed to the scene. An emergency has been declared at Sialkot’s main hospital. Most of the vicitims are thought to have worked at the dry port where the explosives were being stored.
School roof ‘ablaze’
Police said the fireworks were being placed in two containers for shipment to Lahore, 100 kilometres (60 miles) away. Burning debris from the blast set fire to a nearby school roof. The dead included two young students from the school, deputy police chief Syed Ahmed Gondal said. “There is no chance it was sabotage. More probably it was caused by a cigarette or a match stick thrown accidentally,” Mr Gondal told Reuters news agency. He said the force of the blast had literally torn bodies apart. The authorities are investigating what caused the explosion.