Death toll rises to 28 in Gaddani ship-breaking blast

QUETTA: The death toll from an explosion and fire at the Gaddani ship-breaking yard last week has risen to 28, officials said Sunday.

More than 50 others were wounded in the incident when a gas cylinder exploded and started a fire inside an oil tanker at the Gadani yard in the southwestern province of Balochistan.

“Eight more wounded from the Gadani shipyard have died, so the new toll is now 26,” Zulfiqar Hashmi, a local government official, told.

“One person died at home after being discharged from hospital while seven others expired in hospital,” he said.

Muhammad Hashim, commissioner of Kalat region of which Gadani is a part, confirmed the new toll.

The government has banned all activities at the shipbreaking yard in Gadani and a probe is underway.

A high-level committee formed by the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to investigate the causes of the fire held its first meeting in the port city of Karachi Saturday and said it would finalise a report within a week.

Industrial accidents are common in the country, with workplaces often forgoing basic safety measures and equipment in the absence of legislation to protect labourers.

A devastating fire at a textile factory in Karachi killed 255 people in 2012.