Six dead, 36 injured in LPG cylinder blasts, rescue on
HORROR Three people killed in Gandhinagar, three more — including two minor girls — charred in Sunlight Colony, explosions damage neighbouring buildings
NEW DELHI: Six people, including two children, died and 36 others were injured in two separate LPG cylinder blasts in the city on Monday.
One of the explosions took place in East Delhi’s Gandhinagar area and the other in southeast Delhi’s Bhagwan Nagar, Sunlight Colony.
Three people, including a woman, died and 11 others sustained severe burn wounds after a cylinder exploded inside a house in Gandhinagar on Monday around 8pm.
The cylinder reportedly burst into pieces and its shrapnels flew across the building, damaging several other houses in the vicinity. Bricks came down, AC’s were damaged and windowpanes broken.
The children playing in the colony along with the passersby also sustained severe injuries as plaster and several other articles hit them. A police team reached the spot and inspection and rescue was on till late Monday night.
The police said the fire started from the house of one Sanjay Kashyap, an advocate, who was not at home at the time of the incident. Some labourers were reportedly cooking food on the second floor of his building when the cylinder exploded.
Kashyap’s wife Poonam, 34, and father Soni Kashyap, 64, died on the spot and his children, Naina, 4, Girish, 6, and Krish, 12, sustained severe burns. The children have been been admitted to the hospital.
Kashyap’s neighbour, Rajesh Goyal, 50, who lived in the opposite building also died after part of the burst cylinder hit him in the head.
IN GANDHINAGAR, THE WIFE AND FATHER OF A LAWYER WERE KILLED IN THE BLAST. A MAN LIVING THE ADJACENT BUILDING ALSO DIED
Officials from the Delhi Fire Services said that a dozen tenders were rushed to the spot. “Since the lanes are narrow, the fire spread to the rest of the house very quickly,” a senior fire official said.
The electricity supply to the colony was disconnected after the cylinder blast.
DCP (east) Rishi Pal said a case under section of causing death due to negligence has been registered against unknown persons. Police officers say that they would conduct rescue operations through the night to pull out other members of the family and neighbours who are stuck in the debris.
Minutes later a similar blast was reported from southeast Delhi’s Bhagwan Nagar, Sunlight Colony leaving three, including two children, dead.
The fire broke out in the three-storeyed building around 8.20pm. A woman and her two daughters were charred in the inferno triggered by the explosion.
Police said Mamta, 30, jumped off the second floor of the building with her daughters — Pritika, 9, and Priyanka, 1, to escape but fell in the shaft and were charred. Mamta’s husband managed to escape.
The family belonged to Midnapore in West Bengal and the couple worked as embroiders in the area.
DCP (southeast) MS Randhava said a case for causing death due to negligence has been registered.
“I had just returned home from work when I saw thick black smoke emanating from the building. People started screaming and there was chaos. I saw people jumping off the building to save themselves. The locals rushed to get water from inside their house to help but the fire was so massive that we could not do much. It spread within minutes,” a local resident told HT.
“Seven fire tenders were pressed into action to control the fire,” a fireman said.
Police said the fire started on the first floor of the house after a short circuit led to a cylinder blast. The fire spread to the entire building within minutes and many residents were trapped inside. At least 25 people were injured in the fire.