Video of Pakistanis Storing Gas in Plastic Balloons Goes Viral, Internet Concerned

Amidst the ongoing economic crisis in Pakistan, several videos have surfaced on social media showing people going to desperate measures to obtain cooking gas. Locals in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have been seen using huge plastic bags to store LPG as the country faces dwindling supplies of cooking gas cylinders.

Agreed DW.comThese plastic bags are filled with natural gas in stores that are connected to the country’s gas pipeline network. To avoid leakage, sellers seal the opening of the bag tightly with a nozzle and a valve. The bags are then sold to people who then use the gas with the help of a small electric suction pump. It takes approximately one hour to fill three to four kg of gas in plastic bags.

One Twitter user shared the video and wrote: “The practice of using gas packed in polythene bags instead of cylinders for cooking has increased in Pakistan. Gas is sold by filling bags inside shops connected to the gas pipeline network. People use it in the kitchen with a small electric suction pump.”

Watch the video here.

The practice of using gas packed in plastic bags for cooking instead of cylinders has increased in Pakistan. Gas is sold by filling bags inside shops connected to the gas pipeline network. People use it in the kitchen with the help of a small electric suction pump.#pkmb:pic.twitter.com/e1DpNp20Ku

— R Singh…🤸🤸 (@lonewolf_singh) December 31, 2022

In the video, two children are seen carrying several giant white plastic bags filled with LPG. “There are warnings about those plastic bags that can cause gas explosions, but, firstly, I have not heard of such an accident, and secondly, even if those fears are real, we [poor people] because of the expensive cylinders, they have no other choice,” said one of the locals DW.com.

After being shared, the video was pulled from the Internet because the practice could be too dangerous. Users have noted how even the smallest mistake can lead to leaks and explosions. A man said: “I can’t believe it. No goods and services section in Pakistan? Some basic safety standards must be followed, no?