Pakistan: 12 Killed, Several Injured After Explosion Rocks Karachi's Shershah Area

The explosion, caused by a gas pipeline, reportedly took place inside a building with a private bank, The Express Tribune reported.

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New Delhi: At least 12 people were killed and several others injured in an explosion near Paracha Chowk in Shershah area of Karachi, Pakistan, on Saturday.

News agency ANI reported this explosion attributing the Pakistani media.

The explosion, caused by a gas pipeline, reportedly took place inside a building with a private bank, The Express Tribune reported.

According to reports, the people are still trapped under the rubble post the explosion.

The Dawn reported Karachi Police spokesperson SHO Zafar Ali Shah as saying it was suspected that the accumulation of gases in the drain underneath the building caused the blast.

He added that the bank’s building and a fuel station adjacent to it was damaged in the explosion.

The police official further said that a bomb disposal squad was called to examine the explosion site, adding the cause can be determined with certainty once the report is submitted.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has ordered a detailed investigation into the untoward incident in which several vehicles parked nearby were also damaged.

There are many people, who are buried underneath the building’s debris, claimed eyewitnesses, according to a report in Geo TV.

An eyewitness said that he saw a few people fall into the watercourse, beneath the building, post the explosion.

The excavators have been called to the explosion site to remove the debris and rescue those trapped.

PTI reported the eyewitnesses as saying that there were only nine employees of the bank reporting for duty on Saturday.

The Geo TV report further said that a second explosion took place during the rescue and search operation after few electric wires, which were being taken down, collided with the gas line.

No loss of life was, however, reported in the second explosion.