Cylinder blast rocks Kabul: 8 killed in devastating explosion

Kabul (The Uttam Hindu): Eight people were killed in a gas cylinder blast in the Afghan capital, Kabul, the governor's office said in a statement on Saturday evening.

According to the statement, the accident occurred in Police District 21, where a family was using a gas heater to warm their home during the cold winter. A gas leak caused the cylinder to explode, killing the victims, Xinhua News Agency reported. In most Afghan homes, which lack modern heating infrastructure, people rely on gas cylinders or traditional stoves to heat their homes during the harsh winter. Such accidents caused by gas leaks and explosions are becoming increasingly common.

On February 5, a similar gas cylinder explosion in eastern Afghanistan's Khost province killed three women from the same family. Provincial police spokesman Tahir Ehrar said the victim was hospitalized with burns. The family was using a gas heater to warm their home during the cold weather, when a gas leak caused the heater cylinder to explode, resulting in the deaths, the official said.

The official said that the male member of the victim's family was taken to the hospital with burn injuries. A few weeks ago, two women were killed and two children were burned when a gas cylinder exploded in Spin Ghar district of eastern Nangarhar province. A similar incident occurred on January 14th. Fourteen employees were burned when a gas cylinder exploded due to a gas leak at a hotel in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province. Based on their investigation, the police blamed the hotel staff for the accident, saying that their negligence had caused the blast.