At least 47 deaths in Pakistan explosion

EXPLOSIVES stored in a house blew up yesterday, sending a huge fireball through a Pakistani village, killing at least 47 and injuring 150, reports said.

Many of the victims were fighting the early-morning fire in Gayal when the dynamite used for building a state-funded water channel ripped the village apart, destroying or damaging at least half of its 100 homes, witnesses said.

"Suddenly a big explosion jolted the entire village and a flood of fire swept through the nearby homes," said villager Nazir Ahmed, 20, whose sister and nephew were killed.

The fire appeared to be accidental, sparked by an electrical short circuit, said Hussain Khan, a police official.

Investigators were checking whether the contractor, who also died, was legally storing the explosives.

A district government official, Hai Fiza Naushad, said that at least 47 people, including three women and two children, died. About 150 others were injured and 13 were missing.

Bahadur Khan, a doctor at Chilas hospital, where most of the injured were taken, said patients described seeing a "huge ball of fire".

He said an injured villager, Jan Gul, saw dozens of "burning bodies flying in the air".

President General Pervez Musharraf sent a message to the victims' families and ordered an inquiry into whether the explosives were properly stored.

So far, investigators only know that the contractor planned to use the explosives to clear rocks for constructing a water channel, said Javed Iqbal Cheema, director general of the National Crisis Management Cell.

Construction crews frequently use explosives to clear land for roads and other projects in the scenic area.