KARACHI: Rescue officials said on Friday at least 15 people were killed and seven injured in what they described as a boiler explosion in the industrial city of Faisalabad in Pakistan’s Punjab province, prompting a large-scale urban search and rescue operation.
Boiler explosions are a recurring industrial hazard in Pakistan, particularly in Punjab’s textile manufacturing belt, where outdated equipment, poor maintenance and weak regulatory enforcement have caused major accidents over the past decade. Faisalabad, a key textile hub, has seen several industrial fires and structural collapses linked to unsafe industrial practices.
Initial reports said Friday’s blast took place near Shahab Town’s Kabaddi Stadium Ground, flattening part of a building and trapping multiple families beneath the rubble.
The government or police have not confirmed the cause of Friday’s explosion but Rescue Punjab spokesperson Farooq Ahmed said the Rescue 1122 state-run service received a call about a “boiler accident” at 528am.
“According to information so far, seven people have been injured and 15 have died,” he said in a statement.
Initial Rescue 1122 findings indicate the blast was caused by a gas leak inside a chemical factory. Rescue officials said the explosion also damaged nine nearby houses.
District Emergency Officer Faisalabad Engineer Ehtesham is leading the response effort on site, with Rescue 1122’s specialized teams combing the collapsed building for survivors.
“Emergency search and rescue teams were immediately dispatched,” the spokesperson said. “31 emergency vehicles and more than 145 rescuers are participating in the operation, said the Rescue spokesperson.”
Rescuers said several men, women and children were found alive as debris was removed layer by layer.
“Several people have been rescued alive from the collapsed building,” Ahmed said, adding that some victims succumbed to injuries after being pulled out.
The injured and the deceased had been transported to nearby hospitals, he added.
In April 2024, a steam boiler blast at Sargodha Cloth Mills on Sargodha Road in Faisalabad injured a dozen workers and caused part of the factory roof to cave in, with several later dying of burns. Rescue 1122 data cited at the time showed the city had recorded 20 boiler explosions or major fire incidents between June 2019 and May 2024, killing 13 workers and injuring 20 others.
Elsewhere in Punjab, at least two people were killed and more than a dozen injured when a boiler exploded at a factory on Multan Road in Lahore in October 2021, underscoring longstanding concerns over weak enforcement of industrial safety standards in Pakistan’s most populous province.
