Staff Reporter Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, Ali Zaidi on Monday ruled out impression of mysterious gas leakage from any cargo ship at the KPT. Talking in a TV channel programme, Ali Zaidi said gas was leaked from a land near Jackson market, situated behind the KPT.He said the video of a cargo ship that is making rounds on the social media, belongs to Malaysia, named Hercules. “The ship was loaded with sunflower beans no toxic gas leaked from it.” The minister said investigation into the matter was underway and final argument will be made after the completion of investigation. Replying to a query, the minister said the gas leakage affected those citizens, who were having breathing problems. Moreover, the police department has advised for restricting the movement of containers from the port area until the matter of gas leakage get cleared,. The high officials of the city police have contacted concerned authorities and urged for an immediate restriction on movement of gas, chemicals and petroleum products from the port area. The police department has warned likely presence of more containers of gas at the port and urged for a complete search of the East Wharf and West Wharf areas. “The containers in the shape of cylinder and capsule should especially be checked”, the department said. The police has also advised the authorities to seek help from the chemistry department of Karachi and the PCSIR to reach to the cause of the gas leakage incident. Furthermore, a spokesperson of Ziauddin Hospital, which is near to the port area, in a statement said that 100 people, affected in gas leakage incident, were admitted at the hospital and six of them were in a precarious condition. The hospital’s owner Dr. Asim Hussain in his statement said that 70 people affected by the gas were discharged from the hospital after providing medical aid. The hospital providing all possible medical aid to remaining victims of gas leak free of cost, he announced.
