KARAK: A man was killed when a room collapsed due to a gas explosion in Mianki area of Takht-i-Nusrati tehsil on Thursday night.

Police said Mohammad Ibrahim was buried alive when the room caught fire due to gas leakage and then collapsed.

Local residents rushed to the house and retrieved the body from debris.

Local people said the room was filled with gas and caught fire when the victim switched on the light.

Meanwhile`the gas supply was suspended to Karak city and adjacent localities due to repair work on the main supply line` causing hardships to consumers.

Raza Khan Khattak` SNGPL spokesman for southern districts`informed mediapersons that illegal connections taken from the supply line had resulted in massive leakages`necessitating its repair to avoid any fatal incident.

He added the losses were increasing day by day due to gas theft.

He said an operation would be launched against the gas thieves very soon.

The SNGPL spokesman said gas supply would be restored to Karak city soon after completion of repair work.

Mr Khattak said use substandard material in the gas line was causing massive wastage throughout the district.

He asked the people to get their connections legalised to avoid crackdown.