BENGALURU: Nine people, including four children, sustained burn injuries when a leaking LPG gas caused an explosion in their house in T Dasarahalli near Peenya in the early hours of Thursday. The family members had forgotten to switch off the gas knob the night before. When one of them switched on the light the next morning, the leaked gas caused the explosion in the house, which had very poor ventilation for the gas to escape.
The injured are Lakshmi, alias Timmakka (34), a garment factory employee; her sons Somashekar (15) and Niranjan Babu (9); Lakshmi’s relatives Venkatesh (38); his wife Maheshwari (32); their children Devika, (5), Alavelamma, (7); the couple’s father Honnurappa(72); and a neighbour Sangeetha (15). The family hails from Pawagada in Tumakuru district.
A senior police officer said, “The incident occurred around 4.30am and Lakshmi’s husband Devaraj, who works as a security guard in a private company, was not at home as he was on night duty. The couple has been residing at the rented house since eight months, along with their two sons, Niranjan and Somasheakar.
Lakshmi’s relatives had come from their hometown minutes before the mishap as Devika and Alavelamma were on their summer vacation. Lakshmi opened the door and asked the five of them to be seated. Honnurappa asked her to bring some hot water as he wanted to wash his face. She switched on the water heater button, and suddenly there was an explosion due to the gas leakage. Eight of them were severely injured and were rushed to Victoria Hospital. One of the neighbours, Sangeetha, who lives on the first floor, was also injured due to the leak. The fire and emergency personnel were alerted about the mishap and they doused the fire. The experts from FSL also inspected the scene.
A police officer said, “The family is residing on the ground floor of the three-storeyed residential complex and the building has 13 houses. There was no proper ventilation and the gas was stocked inside the house as the windows were kept closed since a few days. Six houses located on the first floor and ground floor were also damaged. Some of them were forced to vacate the houses as the walls cracked.”
In a similar case, six workers sustained burn injuries after an accidental leakage of LPG gas in a shop at Arafat Nagar in JJ Nagar. The injured are identified as Naasir Ahmed (22), Rizwan K (20), Musthak (27), Riyaz, (30), Apsar, (22) and Kayam (4). They are residents of Padarayanapura in JJ Nagar.A senior police officer from Jagajeevanram Nagar police station said that the incident occurred around 5.30pm. The shop owner, Suhail, was on the third floor of a commercial building. The workers had stocked some chemicals in the shop. An accidental fire broke out due to LPG gas leakage and it spread as soon as the chemicals were stocked inside.