RIYADH: A suspected hydraulic cylinder gas explosion in a car ripped through a Taif suburb injuring three people, damaging seven cars and 13 houses on Thursday.

Of the seven vehicles that were damaged included two from the Civil Defense.

Col. Nasser Sharif, spokesman for Civil Defense in Taif, said that his team rushed to the site on hearing that there was a fire in a car. He said that the officers later found that the fire was ignited due to a blast in the hydraulic cylinder gas of the owner of the vehicle.

Witnesses said the scene of the incident looked chaotic like a battlefield. The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital, where they were treated and declared out of danger.

The spokesman stressed the importance of complying with safety requirements in and outside buildings and people to follow official guidelines to avoid accidents.

Police are making further inquiries about the incident since damage to property runs into hundreds of thousands of riyal.