LAHORE: Four people, including a minor and a woman, died after the roof of their house collapsed following an explosion in Multan on Saturday.

Officials said the roof collapsed due to an explosion in fireworks stored inside the house in Mohala Neeli Garan at around 2am.

Six people were injured in the accident.

Following the explosion, Rescue 1122, police, bomb disposal squad and district administration officials arrived at the scene and launched efforts to take out the people trapped under the debris.

Three rescuers initially recovered three bodies from the debris at night.

The body of a child was later recovered after two to three hours.

Multan City Police Of­­fi­­­cer (CPO) Sadiq Ali Dogar confirmed four deaths.

The bodies and injured were shifted to Nishtar Hospital.

The deceased were ide­ntified as Irsa, Muham­mad Arshad alias Man­sha, Riaz alias Billa and Safia while the injured included Eman, Najma, Fayyaz, Ijaz, Rehan, and Ali Hassan.

Delhi Gate police have registered a case under the Explosive Act 1884 against the deceased, Riaz, his nephew Shehbaz and others.

According to the FIR, Riaz and Shehbaz were involved in the firecrackers business and had stored the material at the house.

Shehbaz fled the scene.In a statement, CPO Dogar said as per the initial investigation, fireworks were manufactured inside the house.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2024