FAISALABAD: The death toll from a massive gas explosion inside a glue-making chemical factory in Faisalabad rose to 20 on Saturday, after a blast tore through a densely populated neighbourhood, destroying homes and revealing long-standing industrial safety lapses in the area.
Rescue officials said the early-morning explosion on Friday ripped through the Malikpur–Shahab Town locality with such force that at least 10 surrounding houses sustained heavy damage. Roofs caved in, windows shattered and debris filled the narrow residential lanes built around the decades-old factory.
Authorities said the blast was triggered by a gas leak — a cause also confirmed by the Faisalabad Commissioner’s office. Among the dead were seven members of the same family. Seven others were injured, including three in critical condition, with victims ranging in age from one year to 62 years.
Faisalabad is Pakistan’s third-largest city and a major industrial hub known for its textile and manufacturing sectors.
Often called the country’s “Manchester,” it is densely populated, with factories and residential neighbourhoods built side by side.
The explosion at Crystal Chemical Factory also destroyed four neighbouring industrial units and nine houses in Malikpur. Rescue teams and police transported the dead and injured to the burn unit of Allied Hospital.
Police forensic and crime-scene units collected evidence from the site. Officials said factory owner Qaiser Chughtai and several staff members briefly went into hiding after the incident.
Labour groups, including the National Trade Union Federation and Labour Qaumi Movement, blamed government negligence for allowing hazardous industrial activity in residential areas. They said repeated warnings about unsafe chemicals stored inside the factory had been ignored.
Police later arrested the factory owner and registered a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act, Pakistan Penal Code and Explosive Substances Act. According to the police report, Chughtai, manager Bilal Ali Imran and six others face charges under Section 7 of the ATA, multiple sections of the PPC, and Sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substances Act. The manager, a cook, and two workers were also taken into custody.
The police report stated that residents had repeatedly cautioned the factory management against storing flammable chemicals in a congested neighbourhood, but the warnings “went ignored,” leading to the catastrophic blast that collapsed the roofs of four factories and nine adjoining houses.
