HAFIZABAD - As many as five workers were killed while 7 others sustained critical burns when a fire suddenly erupted in fireworks material on bypass near Thatha Khokhran here Sunday Morning.

According to police sources, the workers were preparing fireworks under the trees near the fireworks warehouse, owned by Muhammad Amin and Muhammad Ishfaq, residents of Mohallah Habib Ganj Hafizabad. Meanwhile, a cache of explosive material caught fire due to which a string of explosion occurred, killing two workers instantly whose body parts littered the ground in proximity while some were found sticking on nearby trees.
Rescue 1122 rushed to the spot and removed the injured to hospital and collected parts of bodies from different places and trees.
Those killed were identified as: Zafar, a resident of Mohallah Tajpura, Liaqat and Imdad of Thatha Khokhran and Irshad of Kassoki Road, Hafizabad while identity of the one could not be established yet. The injured including Nadeem, Umair etc. were rushed to DHQ Hospital from where Nadeem has been referred to Lahore due to his critical condition.
Luckily, the incident took place in the suburbs due to which the damage to life and property remained nominal. Had it been in populous area the damage to life and property would have been colossal.
Soon after getting the information about the incident, DPO Karamat Ullah Malik and police contingent rushed to the spot and sealed the fireworks warehouse (which remained intact because explosion took about 50 yards away from the incident).
The DPO said that five cases had been registered against the owners in the past but they had been released on bail later.
It is pertinent to mention here that every year before Shabb-e-Bara’at several deaths occurred in different fireworks warehouses but no stringent measures could be taken so far to stop the manufacture of fireworks. It is ironic that the provincial Government has banned the display of fireworks but has never thought to ban its manufacturing as well. Locals have suggested that a complete ban on the manufacture and sale of fireworks should be imposed to prevent recurrence of fatal incidents. The provincial government and district administration should take security measures to avert such fatal incident. The police have registered a case against Muhammad Amin, Muhammad Ashfaq and others who are at large till filing of this story.