Terror attack or gas explosion? Confusion over nature of Lahore DHA blast

A terrifying blast in an upscale market of Lahore’s Defense Housing Authority (DHA) has caused quite a panic amongst the citizens of the city. While a lot of people believe that the explosion was part of a terrorist attack, the government has termed it an accidental gas explosion.

On Friday morning, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah confirmed that no traces of explosives were found from the site of the explosion and that the explosion was likely caused due to gas leakage. Addressing a press conference, Sanaullah added that so far the investigations just point towards gas leakage as a likely cause of the blast but nothing can be said for sure till the time investigations are completed.

Officials were confused about the nature of the blast till late Thursday morning but the stance of the government became clear after Sanaullah’s press conference.

A loud explosion was heard just before noon in Lahore’s Defense area. The explosion took place in DHA’s Z-Block, which is a popular shopping center with several restaurants. The blast took place inside an under-construction restaurant, where several laborers were working. An entire floor of the building fell down because of the blast and as a result, four cars and 12 motorbikes also got badly damaged.

The injured were rushed to the nearest hospital and later it was confirmed that eight people died because of the blast while 21 others were injured. Punjab Health Minister Salman Rafiq later confirmed that four of the injured were in critical condition.

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Posted by fatimaarshad on Feb 24 2017. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.