UPDATE - Pakistan: Gas explosion kills 5 in Karachi

ADDS CAUSE OF EXPLOSION, MORE DETAILS

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - At least five people were killed, and over two dozen injured in an explosion in a four-story building in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Wednesday, officials said.

The explosion was caused by a gas leakage on the first floor, which was being used as a kitchen for a bank on the ground floor, the bomb disposal squad said.

Faisal Edhi, the head of Edhi Foundation, a non-government relief and rescue agency, told reporters that four bodies and over 20 injured were pulled out of the wreckage, with several of them reported to be in a critical condition.

One of the injured succumbed to his injuries at the hospital, he added.

The dead and the injured also include bank employees, manager Irfan Siddiqui told reporters.

Rescue workers backed by paramilitary troops evacuated dozens of people trapped on the third and fourth floor of the building, which has been badly damaged. Debris was strewn all over the site as officials declared the building uninhabitable.