Gas explosion injures 18 in Uzbekistan

Tashkent, Nov 29 A gas explosion and subsequent fire from it injured 18 men in a workers' dormitory in Sergeli district of the Uzbek capital, the Uzbek Emergency Ministry said on Monday.

The fire from the explosion occurred early in the morning in a dormitory where 43 workers were housed, it said.

According to a preliminary investigation, the explosion was caused by the accumulation of gas in a room due to a gas pipe leak, Xinhua news agency reported.

It was extinguished within an hour, and all the injured were hospitalised with various degrees of burns, said the ministry, noting that no casualties were reported.