2 children killed, 7 people hurt as laptop catches fire at Faisalabad home

Two children died and seven people were injured early on Wednesday when a fire erupted due to a laptop explosion at a home in Faisalabad’s Sharifpur area, a doctor said.

According to Allied Hospital’s emergency duty doctor Hammad Ahmed, nine injured people, including two women and five children aged three to nine, were brought to the hospital by rescue services with “serious burns”.

Later, a girl and a boy succumbed to their injuries, Dr Ahmed told Dawn.com.

The fire erupted when the laptop that was plugged in for charging exploded, Rescue 1122 said.

While officials haven’t commented on the cause of the explosion, faulty lithium ion batteries in laptops and mobile phones can overheat and catch fire, and in rare cases, blow up.

According to a list of injured persons issued by the rescue service, the victims were aged between three and 45 years. The deceased comprised a six-year-old girl and a nine-year-old boy.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz expressed her grief on the incident, a statement posted on X by an official PML-N account said.

Conveying her sympathies to the bereaved family, she issued directives for the injured to be provided with the best medical services.