An explosion in Atlas Metals factory on 14th November killed 6 workers, It was considered another unfortunate accident but the gruesome details of why the explosion occurred and how the company delayed treatment to the injured tells the story of corporation greed & negligence.
The people who were killed due to the negligence of Atlas Honda owners are:
- Shah Zaman, aged 34
- Muhammad Saleem, aged 35
- Imran, aged 30
- Khalid, aged 33
- Muhammad Aamir, aged 35
- Inayat, aged 25
All these victims received 100 percent burns due to which they lost their lives. But Sharifullah Muhammad who is the brother of Muhammad Aamir narrates a different story about the explosion on 14th November.
Sharifullah alleges that the company was responsible for killing his brother. He revealed that there were 3 lead and 1 aluminum furnaces in the factory. The Aluminum furnace was facing problems after which the higher management decided to use the lead furnace for processing aluminum.
He claims that this dangerous experiment was carried despite the fact that engineers and consultants from Atlas Honda warned them of the consequences. The result was a blast which killed 6 workers and injured another.
What happened next is more horrific, when the Police reached the factory as the first response team the management denied them entry to the place where the incident happened. And when they were allowed no evidence was collected by the police.
According to Sharifullah Muhammad rather than transferring the victims to any hospital with burn units such as Civil Hospital the victims were transferred to a local hospital ‘Landhi Social Security Hospital’ with the lame excuse of first aid.
Sharifullah claims that he was in Saudi Arabia from where he talked with his injured brother on phone, his another sibling visited the victim at hospital along with their mother but police didn’t record their statements claiming that the victims are injured and unable to record statements.
The FIR was registered as a boiler explosion, this FIR with loop holes was to provide a safe exit for Altas Group which is the parent company of Atlas Metals producing parts for Atlas Honda & Batteries.
He further revealed that the officials from Shah Latif Police Station, Karachi offered him to accept 9 million rupees along with pension for his brother and stop the legal proceedings against the company.
Sharifullah Muhammad is continuing the legal actions against those who were responsible for the incident but he claims that the management of Atlas Metals along with the police is trying to cover up the whole event.
It is not the first incident in which precious lives of workers were risked by corporations due to their greed. This incident requires proper investigation as promised by Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah to find the culprit.
By Ahmed Abdullah
Shah Zaman
More horrific details are there on facebook page of Muhammad Aamir’s brother.