Incident 1: Data: 14th January 2019

QUETTA: Five members of a family suffocated to death after gas leaked in their house in the Eastern
Bypass area here on Sunday night. The bodies of the ill-fated man, his wife and their three children, who
belonged to the Dasht area of Mastung district, were taken to hospital for autopsy. According to rescue
officials, the victims left the gas heater on in their bedroom at night to protect themselves from
extremely cold weather in Quetta. The bodies were handed over to their heirs after completing medico-
legal formalities.

Reference: https://www.dawn.com/news/1528170

Incident 2: Date: 11th December 2019

QUETTA: At least three women and two children suffered critical burn wounds due to gas leakage
explosion in a house located on Khushal Khan Road in Pashtun Abad area of Quetta, on Wednesday
morning.

According to reports, a woman lit a matchstick to gas stove for preparing breakfast, and a blast
occurred due to gas leakage.

Rescue officials rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to BMC Hospital’s burn centre for medical
attention.

The house owner told newsmen that evidences at the site of incident suggest that blast was occurred as
the family had fallen asleep at night while leaving a gas heater burning, and at sometime the gas supply
went off, and the gas might have accumulated in the house. However, policemen are further
investigating into the incident.

Reference: https://thefrontierpost.com/gas-leakage-explosion-injures-five-in-quetta/
https://www.dawn.com/news/1522495/three-injured-in-blast-after-gas-leak

Incident 3: Date: 12th November 2019

TAXILA: Gas leakage blast in a house claimed two girls’ lives while four others received burn
injuries in Mohallah Chandnagar in Taxila Police station limits on Sunday.
According to hospital and Rescue 1122 sources, wife of Babar Hussain showed match stick to gas
stove at around 4am to prepare milk for her 6-month-old daughter Aqsa Noor, which caused blast.
As a result the main gate and walls of the house collapsed in the street while walls and windowpanes of
the nearby houses were also damaged.
Rescue 1122 rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) Hospital then
to burn centre of Holy Family Hospital Rawalpindi where 11-year-old Saman Babar and 14-year-old
Mehwish Babar succumbed to their injuries.
The house owner Izaj Taj told newsmen that evidences at the site of incident suggest that blast was
occurred due to gas leakage.

Reference: https://www.dawn.com/news/1516175/two-killed-in-gas-leak-explosion
Incident 4: Date: 7th January 2019

Five of a family including a couple and three children died of suffocation due to leakage of gas here on
Sunday. Rescue sources said that family hailing from Qalandarabad area of Abbottabad slept on
Saturday turning on the gas heater to save them of cold weather. In the mid of night, flame of the
heater went off due to suspension of gas and later the gas was restored. Five including husband, wife
and their three children aged between five to eight years died of suffocation due to accumulation of
gas. The neighbors noticing the family absence checked the house and found them all dead.

Reference: https://dailytimes.com.pk/341404/five-of-a-family-die-in-gas-leakage/

LAHORE: When 23-year-old Irtiza Ali, a resident of Lahore, went

on a trip to Malam Jabba with his cousins and uncle, he had no
inkling that he would never return alive. It had taken a lot of
convincing for Irtiza to even agree to going on the trip, as he was
studying for his upcoming CSS exams. But soon, he was packing his
bags.

“We reached Malam Jabba in the afternoon, booked a room at the Green
Palace Hotel and went out for hiking,” says Irtiza’s maternal uncle, Munir
Ahmed, who was on the trip as well.

The next morning, something shocking happened.

“One of the children went to take a shower and came out complaining of
dizziness,” recounts Mr Ahmed. “Then someone else went and then it was my
turn. As I began washing my hair, I felt as if the ground was slipping away.”

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They had no clue what was happening. It was Irtiza’s turn next. When he did
not come out after some time, they knocked at the door and called him out
repeatedly, but there was no answer. “I instantly called the hotel management
and we tried knocking the door down. He must have been inside for around
half an hour.”

23-year-old among many reported dying from leakage of

gas from such geysers
Once they broke the door, they found Irtiza lying on the floor, unconscious,
barely breathing. They rushed him to a doctor. But as if things were not
chaotic enough, they could not find a single medical practitioner around.
“At least five kilometres down from Malam Jabba, we found a doctor only to
be told he was just a compounder. Going further below, another doctor asked
us to take the boy to a hospital in Mingora. My nephew was breathing and was
warm throughout the journey, but as we entered the hospital, he went cold.
The doctors conducted an ECG and pronounced him dead.”

Similarly, in a video found on social media, a man can be seen saying his
young niece was found dead in the washroom due to the same reason; they
had installed an instant geyser inside the washroom, while it should always be
fixed outside. Same was the case with Malam Jabba’s Green Palace Hotel.

Every time a water tap is turned on, the geyser releases gas that gathers inside
a washroom. “When we talked about this with other people, we found out
about several similar cases,” said the man in the video.

Carbon monoxide, an odourless and colourless gas, acts fast. Since it is dense,
it does not rise, staying at breathing levels. In winters, hundreds of cases of
gas poisoning are reported, especially in state hospitals in the northern areas
as well as Islamabad and Rawalpindi. These are mainly caused by gas leakage
from instant geysers. Several cases of paralysis have also been reported.

In most cases, instant gas geysers are connected to liquefied petroleum gas
cylinders and the gas inside is a combination of butane and propane. Usually
on combustion, it produces carbon dioxide and water. But when fixed inside a
small bathroom, with little oxygen, it results in the release of carbon
monoxide, which results in lack of oxygen supply to the body.

Altering the temperature frequently while the geyser is on can lead to

incomplete combustion, thus emitting poisonous gases that may cause severe
poisoning, which may lead to death. Even those who survive face brain
damage with what doctors call “irreversible hypoxic ischaemic brain injury”,
as published in a letter to the editor in the Journal of the Pakistan Medical
Association.

“It is appalling that there was absolutely no dispensary in the area or any kind
of first aid facility at the hotel,” says Bilal Sheikh, an acquaintance of the
family. “It is one of the most visited points and the government is also trying
to promote tourism, but there are no emergency services at any level. Nor is
there any check and balance.”

“There is lack of awareness on the part of the sellers, buyers and even the
plumbers who install these geysers. They do not know that they should not fix
them inside an unventilated room,” adds Bilal.
“We could have filed a police case,” says Irtiza’s uncle, Ahmed. “But we left the
decision to our sister, Irtiza’s mother. All she wanted was her son brought to
her.” She blatantly told them that filing a report would not bring him back.

“We faced a major loss,” says Ahmed. “But if this is not stopped, such losses
will continue.”

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2019

https://www.dawn.com/news/1523445/instant-geysers-can-take-lives-if-fixed-inside-washrooms

20th Jan 2020

HANGU: Six members of a family suffered burn injuries in a gas leakage explosion in
Sarozai area early Sunday, hospital sources said.

They said that Umar and other members of his family were asleep at night when an
explosion took place due to gas leakage in the room. As a result, six members
identified Umar, Saqib Zahid, Umar Zahid, Najiba, Mehnaz Bibi and Rahmila Bibi
suffered burn injuries. The injured were shifted to a hospital wherefrom some of them
were taken to Peshawar for their serious condition.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/601521-six-hurt-in-gas-leak-explosion

KARACHI: An elderly woman was killed in an explosion caused by

gas leakage in a house in Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal neighbourhood
on Saturday morning, ARY News reported.

Police relayed the incident happened in Gulshan-e-Iqbal’s Block Five.

The woman aged between 60-65 years burned to death when a fire engulfed
the ground floor of the house after a loud bang due to gas leakage, they said,
adding the blast occurred at around 9:30.

Upon being informed of the incident, police and Rangers personnel as well as
firefighters reached the scene.

Initial investigation points to gas leakage as the probable cause of the blast.

Read More: Five of family die in Quetta gas leakage incident

The body of the deceased was shifted to hospital and will be handed over to
relatives for her last rites after medical examination.

The deceased’s husband said her wife being aged couldn’t escape the raging
flames while other family members scurried to save their lives.

A day earlier, one person was killed in a fire at a factory in Karachi’s Korangi
Industrial Area.

Read More: Gas explosions, leaks claim two lives, 13 injured in

various incidents

According to fire officials, the blaze erupted at the industrial unit located near
Chamra Chowrangi when it had been closed for Friday prayers.

The factory’s owner said he spotted the raging flames when he returned after
offering Friday prayers.

One person died in the fire incident and his body has been shifted to Jinnah
hospital. His identity is yet to be ascertained.
Ref: https://arynews.tv/en/elderly-woman-killed-in-gas-leak-blast-in-karachis-gulshan-e-iqbal/
18th Jan 2020

NOWSHERA: Seven members of a family, including women and

children, suffered burn injuries in an explosion caused by gas
leakage in a house at Labour Colony, Amangarh, here on Thursday.

Rescue sources confirmed the incident and said that the room was filled with
gas and as a woman, who was there to prepare breakfast for the family, struck
a match to light fire it caused explosion.

As a result, seven people, including Mohammad Junaid and Mohammad

Noman were seriously burnt. They were taken to Nowshera Medical Complex.

It was stated that the family had forgotten to switch off gas appliance at night
during loadshedding and as the supply resumed the gas filled the room. The
injured persons were taken to the hospital by a rescue team.

Meanwhile, Cantonment Board, Risalpur, on Thursday started an operation

against encroachments in the main Risalpur Bazaar and took different items
of shopkeepers into custody which were kept outside the shops.

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2020

Ref: https://www.dawn.com/news/1526007/seven-suffer-burns-in-nowshera-gas-leak-blast