Three passengers died and five others were injured on Monday when the CNG cylinder installed in a van caught fire.
The injured were taken to a hospital, where doctors treating them said that condition of two of them was critical.
Garh Maharaja police’s Mushtaq Hussain said that the passenger van (LOK-8624) was on its way to Kilianwala from Samundri when its gas cylinder caught fire apparently due to a leak.
The vehicle was burnt within minutes.
The deceased were identified as Mumtaz Bibi and her daughter Gulnar Bibi, residents of Mango Parah in Nankana Sahib district, and Muhammad Kashif, a resident of Chak 549-GB.
Hussain said the van driver and his helper had escaped injury and fled.
One of the injured told police that some passengers had complained of smell of gas leak after the cylinder was refilled on the way. He said they had asked the driver to check it, but he had ignored then.
They had gone less than five kilometers, he said, when the van caught fire near Kanjwani Stop.
He said some passengers had jumped from the windows.
The driver and the helper had fled unharmed, he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 9th, 2013.