KARACHI: The Shershah drain blast death toll rose to 17 on Sunday when rescue workers retrieved two more bodies from under the rubble, while police booked for murder the building owner and those responsible for covering the drain with concrete to raise the illegal structure that had collapsed a day ago.

According to officials, the deceased spotted in the early hours of Sunday were identified as Sardar, cashier of the bank branch whose floor caved in, and Mohammad Ali.

The explosion, which was caused by accumulation of gases in the underground sewer, left nearly three dozen men including bank employees and customers buried under the debris in the drain where heavy machinery was employed to rescue survivors and retrieve bodies.

One of the deceased was father of a ruling party lawmaker, Dilawar Khan, who owned a nearby showroom. In all, 11 lives were saved by rescue organizations and doctors.

An area police officer said the Site-B police registered an FIR (449/2021) against the suspects responsible for the construction of the building and its owner under host of charges, including manslaughter, on behalf of the state.

The police officer, Asghar, said two bodies were recovered on Sunday at around 1:30am from under the debris. With this addition, the death toll rose to 17, he added.

He explained that the debris along with people on the floor had fallen into the drain due to the explosion.

According to the FIR, the blast took place at around 1:45pm on Saturday ‘near’ Habib Bank Ltd, adjacent to PSO petrol pump, located on Estate Avenue Road, Site, at Shershah Chowk. Contingents of the police rushed to the spot and saw the debris of the bank floor, walls and an office behind the bank in the drain.

The police called the bomb disposal squad and crime scene unit, Edhi and Chhipa and other rescue teams, which removed the debris with the help of machinery and shifted the dead and the injured to Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi.

Led by Inspector Mohammed Amir, the bomb disposal squad examined the place, collected samples and submitted their report to the complainant, said SHO Inspector Zawar Husain. “The BDS team in their report stated that the blast occurred due to exiting of gases from sewerage line beneath the building housing the bank and another office,” the FIR mentioned. “This report [of bomb experts] and examination of the place showed that the bank and other office were constructed on sewerage line illegally and continuous exiting of gases from the nullah (drain) caused this incident.”

The building was constructed by encroaching on the sewerage nullah. Therefore, the ‘responsible persons involved in the construction and the owner of the building’ have committed crimes under Sections 322 (qatl-bis-sabab), 337-H (causing hurt by rash or negligent act), 337-I (causing hurt by mistake), 427 (mischief causing damage) and 34 (common intention) of Pakistan Penal Code.

Probe

Investigators in the meantime collected samples of debris, battery part, dust, colour, electric wire piece, sewage water, wood piece, CCTV DVR as evidences. Further footage was being obtained. The collected evidences would be sent to a lab for forensic analysis to confirm reason of the explosion.

DIG South Sharjeel Kharal said a total of 17 men died and 11 persons were injured. He elaborated that 13 employees of the bank were posted at the branch though half of the staff was on duty on Saturday when the blast took place. Five of them along with two customers who were in the branch died, whereas 10 of the deceased were outside the bank, the officer said.

The explosion also affected the adjacent shops and showroom run by MNA Alamgir Khan’s father who also died, said the senior officer.

When asked about the reports of another explosion, DIG Kharal said it was caused by a short circuit soon after the major explosion, but it did not cause any injury to human being. After the second minor explosion due to short circuit, the police called K-Electric teams and got the power supply disconnected to prevent any untoward incident during debris removal.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2021