LAHORE                   -              One person died and at least ten sustained severe burns and a number of shops and vehicles were destroyed on Wednesday, as a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) filled tanker overturned on the road resulting in a blast ensued by a raging inferno, near Shahdra Mor. The blast was so intense that it resulted in demolition of a mosque nearby.

According to the police sources, the dead has been identified as father of a traffic warden, who unfortunately left home for some urgent work and was present at Shahdra Chowk when the incident took place. He and the other injured people were immediately taken to the Mayo Hospital where Yasir’s father was declared dead due to excessive burns. Three other affected by the blaze are said to be in critical conditions. 

According to rescue sources the fire erupted in an LPG tanker soon engulfed the nearby petrol filling station, markets and vehicles parked in a nearby parking lot making the blaze even more vicious and uncontrollable. As many as fifteen vehicles and 100 fire-fighters participated in the operation against the blaze.

Despite the Lockdown announced by the provincial government due to the global pandemic of novel coronavirus a huge crowd gathered at the site of the incident. Sources were of the opinion that the death toll and the damage would have increased manifold if there had been no lockdown.

Chief Minister of Punjab, Sardar Usman Khan Buzdar has taken note of the incident and sought an immediate report from authorities concenrned.