“At around 7:15am, I heard a blast. I rushed to the house and saw everything destroyed.” That is how Hanif Masih described Sunday morning in Islamabad’s Sector G-7, where a gas explosion wrecked his home and killed at least eight people.
The family was in the middle of wedding celebrations. Hanif’s elder son had married a day earlier, and the festivities for his younger son were under way when the house blew up. Hanif told media he was in a room next to the main building while his family was inside.
“I have lost my newlywed son, his wife, my wife, and my other daughter-in-law,” he said. “My daughter is seriously injured.”
Many of the guests had stayed awake until the early hours and were asleep when the blast came.
A gas leak, relatives say
Sohail Romi, a relative who was at the scene, said the wedding procession had come from Gujrat the night before, with the walima set for Sunday noon. His explanation for the blast: “It appears the gas was left open during the night, and when a matchstick was lit in the morning, it caused the gas to ignite, resulting in the explosion.”
Forensic teams went through the debris with metal detectors, and authorities opened an investigation.
Neighbors hit too
The damage reached beyond the family. William Pervez said a nearby resident, Yaqoob Masih, lost his two sons when the roof of their house collapsed in the blast.
Burials took place at the Christian graveyard in Sector H-8. Six victims were buried on Sunday, and the remaining two were due to be buried on Monday.
Daily Times, which reported the story, said the tragedy points to the danger of unattended gas cylinders and the need for public awareness of safety precautions. The local Christian community and the capital are in mourning.
