CHANDIGARH: Two people were killed and 21 others injured, 15 of them critically, after an LPG tanker exploded following a collision on the Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur highway near Mandiala village on Friday night. The district administration has initiated an inquiry into the incident.
Sources said the blast allegedly occurred after a petroleum tanker attempted to make an improper turn and collided with a vegetable-laden Mahindra pickup, triggering a massive explosion.
The blaze spread rapidly, damaging and engulfing at least 15 shops and four to five houses, trapping villagers, many of them asleep, leaving little time to escape.
Ambulances and fire tenders from Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Phagwara and the Adampur Air Force Station were mobilised, along with the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF).
Police personnel from different stations were also dispatched immediately. The injured were rushed to Hoshiarpur Civil Hospital, with critical patients referred to other facilities. A special team of doctors from Amritsar Medical College has been deployed to assist.
Hoshiarpur Civil Surgeon Dr Pawan Kumar and Senior Medical Officer Dr Kuldeep Singh said 23 patients were brought to the Civil Hospital. “One was declared dead on arrival, and another succumbed while being taken to a private hospital.
At present, five patients remain admitted at the Civil Hospital, 14 have been referred to other facilities, and two have been discharged,” they added.
Deputy Commissioner of Hoshiarpur, Aashika Jain, stated that all the injured are being treated free of cost under the Farishte Scheme of the state government.
She assured that compensation would be provided to the families of the deceased as per government norms and emphasised that no lapses in medical care would be tolerated.
Senior Superintendent of Police of Hoshiarpur, Sandeep Kumar Malik, said a case has been registered under Sections 105 and 324(4) of the Bhartiya Nyaay Samhita (2023) against unidentified persons, and a detailed investigation is under way.
Meanwhile, villagers held a dharna near the accident site against the gas agency officials, alleging that they did not provide emergency help to the fire victims after the tanker blast.
“The damage could have been much more had the tanker gone up in flames near the Hindustan Petroleum bottling plant, which was just a kilometre away. The government should fix the responsibility of the gas agency contractor,” said Sukhwant Singh, sarpanch of Mandiala village.
Amarjit Kaur, whose husband and four family members were injured in the blast, said that they could not see anything. “Everything happened so fast that we could not understand what happened and what to do and where to run,” she said.
Another survivor, Harbans Lal, said that he and his family woke up to the sound of the blast and were confused as to what had happened. “The smoke entered our house and then it was on fire. We ran out to save our lives. We escaped with minor burns, but I got trapped in the room and my legs were burnt,” he said.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced a financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh to the families of the deceased in the Hoshiarpur LPG tanker explosion.
In a post on X, Mann said a major accident occurred last night in Mandiala village because of the explosion in the LPG tanker. The state government will provide financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of those who lost their lives in the incident. “The injured will be treated free of cost,” Mann further said on X.