On Sunday, rescuers and district administration authorities in Jhelum reported that a gas cylinder explosion had leveled a three-story structure on the Grand Trunk Road, killing at least five people and injuring ten more.
During a press conference, Jhelum DC Samiullah Farooq confirmed the number of casualties.
Nasir Mehmood Bajwa, the District Police Officer (DPO), is in charge of the rescue mission, according to the police.
The Sikandar Hotel on GT Road, a major thoroughfare, had a gas cylinder explosion in the morning. Officials from Rescue 1122 say that thirty people were enjoying breakfast in the dining hall when the disaster occurred.
“The intensity of the blast was so severe that the hotel building collapsed,” the rescuer stated. People buried under the rubble could be heard yelling for help. The persons who were buried were dug out using heavy machinery, he said.
Officials reported finding five bodies and transporting at least ten injured people from the rubble to the Jhelum District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital. A doctor at the DHQ Hospital in Jhelum said that an emergency situation had been proclaimed.
The relief efforts at the scene of the event were examined by DPO Bajwa and DC Farooq. The local police department tweeted that they were assisting the DPO with relief efforts.
The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, has mourned the loss of five lives. The Prime Minister issued a statement expressing his condolences to the families who had lost loved ones and hoping that the departed rest in peace. He hoped that the injured would get well soon.
This was the second gas cylinder explosion in the province in less than 24 hours, and it happened in Jhelum. On Saturday, a cylinder exploded in a car in the Bhalwal tehsil of the Sargodha district, killing seven and injuring 14.
The blast happened about 8:35 in the morning, according to a statement released by Rescue 1122. The LPG that was spilling from the cylinder, according to reports, also ignited.
The statement claims that seven people were critically injured and taken to the Bhalwal Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) Hospital along with the bodies. Five individuals were killed in at least three gas cylinder explosions around the country last month.
