Six injured are in critical, rescue operation completed with no one remaining under the debris
Rescue 1122 teams clear debris from residential houses damaged in a chemical factory explosion in Faisalabad. Photo: INP
At least 20 people were killed and several others injured in an explosion at a chemical factory in Faisalabad’s Malikpur area early Friday morning.
The blast, which occurred around 6 am, was so powerful that it caused the roofs of six surrounding houses to cave in. Eleven other houses were also damaged.
Area residents reached the rubble immediately and began retrieving bodies of the deceased from the debris. Rescue teams have since taken over operations at the scene and shifted the injured to Allied Hospital, where six of the injured were said to be in critical condition.
Rescue officials said narrow, unpaved streets slowed the response, extending the operation to nearly ten hours. Chemical fumes at the site made breathing difficult, forcing rescuers to work in protective masks.
The police have arrested the factory manager, Bilal Imran, and three other administrative officials while the factory’s owner, Qaiser, is on the run.
Mansoorabad police have registered a case against the owner, manager and five employees of the factory, invoking charges of terrorism, murder, attempted murder, negligence and illegal storage of flammable chemicals under six major sections of the law.
Police have booked the accused under Sections 302, 324, 336-B, 440, 147, 149, Sections 3 and 4 of the Explosives Act, and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act. A search operation has been launched to arrest all seven suspects.
According to the police report, the factory owner, Qaiser Chughtai, factory manager, and five other staff members had been storing and handling highly flammable chemicals inside a container on the premises. Residents had repeatedly complained that the storage of such hazardous material posed a serious threat to their lives and property.
The FIR states that police had earlier warned the owner and manager several times to stop the unsafe practice, but all instructions were ignored.
According to the report, the explosion occurred when a container filled with volatile chemicals detonated, killing 20 people and injuring seven others.
Rescue officials suspect that it was either the boiler or the “cooker” used to heat chemicals exploded. They added that the factory was illegally operating in a residential area.
The rescue operation was completed after hours of searching, with no one remaining under the debris.
Authorities said the dead included several members belonging to a single family. Among them were 42-year-old Fakhra Bibi and her young children — Jannat, 3, Maham, 2, and Ali Hasnain, 1 — as well as 62-year-old Maqsooda Bibi, her husband Muhammad Shafiq and their son Muhammad Irfan. Another family lost a father and his three adult sons: Ashiq Hussain, 50, and Bilal, 28, Umar, 24, and Ubaid, 22. Several other children aged between 4 and 13 were also among the deceased.
Another family lost three children identified as four-year-old Irfan, 10-year-old Ahmad and four-year-old Azan Ali. Rehan, 40, and his 13-year-old sister Muqaddas were also killed while 28-year-old Shan, son of Akram, also died in the incident.
The bodies were later handed over to relatives after initial police procedures.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif and National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq expressed grief over the loss of life and sought a detailed report from Commissioner Faisalabad Raja Jahangir Anwar. Both officials ordered a thorough investigation into the incident.
