Karachi : A powerful gas explosion in a sewage system in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, killed at least 12 people and injured 11 others Saturday, police and a health official said.
Police spokesman Sohail Jokhio said the blast was apparently caused when something ignited gas that had accumulated in the sewer beneath a local bank building in the Shershah neighborhood of the port city.
The powerful blast destroyed the HBL bank building. Video footage aired by local television stations showed the entire structure of the Shershah branch was damaged.
Dr. Sabir Memon at Trauma Center Karachi said 10 people were killed and 13 others were injured, at least three critically. He said several injured were sent to the intensive care unit.
Senior police officer Sarafar Nawaz Shaikh later said two of the injured died at the hospital raising the death toll to 12.
