KARACHI, May 21: A labourer was killed and six others were injured when an oxygen cylinder exploded in a factory in Korangi within the remit of the Awami Colony police station on Monday, police said.

They said the incident took place at the Sultan Gas Cylinder Company situated near Singer Chowrangi in Korangi Industrial Area. It was around 11am when a cylinder exploded with a big bang during the decanting of oxygen into cylinders.

Awami Colony SHO Javed Brohi said that following the explosion, at least three more leaking oxygen cylinders at the factory also exploded causing a massive damage to the factory’s structure.

The explosions destroyed one part of double-storey building as the walls and the roof also collapsed.

About 45 workers were present at the time of the incident. Some of them were trapped under the rubble.

Following the explosion, law-enforcement agencies, fire tenders and ambulances rushed to the site and the workers were rescued and shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

The explosions also caused a minor damage to a neighbouring garments factory.

A teenage factory worker, who was yet to be identified, was killed while four other workers were wounded. They were identified as Azhar, 18, Junaid, 18, Waqas, 20 and Sher Zada. Two women — Naila, 28, and Farzana, 26 — who worked at the neighbouring garments factory were also injured in the incident.

According to doctors, Sherzada was in critical condition.

The hands and legs of the deceased worker were severed from the body due to the impact of the explosion.

The area SHO said that many other workers were injured as everyone tried to rush outside following the blast.