Blast kills 10 in northeast Pakistan
Powerful auto rickshaw explosion in crowded street in Mullah city injures 50; cause of blast unknown
By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan
At least ten people have been killed and 50 others injured in a powerful blast in an auto rickshaw in Pakistan's northeastern Multan city on Sunday, police said.
"We are investigating the nature of the blast," Multan police chief Azhar Akram told reporters.
The explosion, which according to eyewitnesses could be the result of a gas cylinder flare-up, was so powerful that it destroyed several other vehicles, and smashed windowpanes of nearby buildings with giant plums of smoke wafting upwards.
TV footage showed the site strewn with pieces of human flesh, blood-soaked shoes, caps, glasses and other belongings.
Pakistan has a history of gas cylinder blasts, many of them because of violation of safety rules. The government has recently banned use of gas cylinders in school buses and vans after an alarming increase in such incidents.
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