BENGALURU: Abdul Latheef (14), brother of the deceased Mubarak, had come home to be with his parents and siblings as he had a holiday on Friday. However, around 8.15am, he woke up to a huge sound and saw a wall had fallen on his brother Mohammed Mubarak Ali, sister Fathima and mother Shabeen Banu.
I study in City Market and also stay there. Every Friday, I come home as I get the day off. I was to return by 5pm Friday. I was fast asleep and woke up after hearing a huge sound. I saw a wall on my brother and sister. My mother was crying in pain and was bleeding profusely from her head. At least 8 to 10 people had to remove the wall and rush my injured siblings and mother to hospital. Unfortunately, I lost my brother. My father Amanulla had gone to a nearby mosque,” Latheef said.
Chickpet MLA Uday Garudachar visited the spot and told the media that according to the police, the blast was due to a gas cylinder explosion, in which one boy died.
“My house is almost 100 metres from the blast site. Despite being so far away, there are cracks in the walls of my building. Windows and doors are also damaged. Mobile phones lying on the table were also damaged,” said Pasha, a resident of Sri Rama Colony.
“Around 40 to 50 people stay in the 15 houses put together. Most of them had gone to Lalbagh where they work. Among the 15 people present in the houses, 11 were injured. The casualties would have been more if all the residents were at home. The sound was so loud it was heard almost 1km away. Everybody started running out of their houses,” another resident said.