CHENNAI: Two children, four-year-old Christika and one-and-a-half-year-old Theeran died and seven others were injured after an LPG gas leak allegedly triggered a blast at a house at Samundiswarar Nagar near Navalur around 7.30 am on Sunday. At least three of the seven, including a seven-year-old child were critically injured and are being treated for burns at the Chengalpattu GH.
According to police sources, the leak is suspected to be from a commercial cylinder in one of the three portions of the same building where the family had been running a small catering business. Preliminary inquiry by the Thazhambur police indicated that a damaged LPG rubber hose connected to a commercial double-burner stove may have caused the gas leak that led to the explosion. The hose is typically meant for use with domestic cylinders and not for commercial setups such as this.
The first portion was occupied by V Murugan (55) an auditor who had been living there for several years. In the second portion, where the leak originated, M Vairamuthu (40), his wife V Selvi (35), and their son V Pradeep (7) had been residing for the past one year in their one bedroom house. Police sources said Vairamuthu, who earlier worked at a hotel, had recently started supplying food to hospitals and women’s PG accommodations along Thazhambur Road with the help of his wife from their house. Since he was cooking food in bulk for outside supply, he had also kept two additional filled LPG cylinders at the house.
The third portion was occupied by C Sanjeev Kumar (27), a housekeeping worker at a software company on OMR Road. He lived there with his wife S Sonia (25), her mother R Chitra (55), and their children Christika and Theeran.
Police sources said that between 7.30 am and 8 am on Sunday, Vairamuthu, his wife Selvi and their son were in the hall after which Selvi decided to move the seven-year-old boy to the bedroom to continue sleeping. When she switched off a table fan placed near two cooking boilers in the hall, the accumulated LPG rubber leak allegedly ignited, triggering a powerful blast inside the house.
The explosion caused severe burn injuries to the occupants in the second portion and also damaged the other two portions of the house. In the third portion, the family who were asleep in their bedroom with their children were severely injured when debris from the ceiling fell on them, hitting the children on the face; the children died on the spot.
The children’s grandmother, who was sleeping in the hall, sustained burn injuries in the blast. In the first portion, Murugan, who was asleep at the time, was injured after debris from the ceiling fell on him.
Following the blast, neighbours who heard the sound rushed to the spot and rescued a few of the injured. However, as the debris was heavy, they alerted the Thazhambur police and the Siruseri Fire and Rescue Services.
“When we reached the spot and rescued the families, the two children had already died and the building had almost collapsed. It was not easy to carry out the rescue as the structure was in a collapsed condition. We had to proceed very carefully while rescuing the victims,” Siruseri Fire and Rescue Services officer Sekar told TNIE.
TNIE visited the spot and found that the house, a single-storey structure located along a narrow lane between adjoining buildings, has a raised entrance accessed by a short flight of concrete steps on the side. The blast appears to have originated inside, damaging the entry area and interior and hurling debris onto the street outside.
Police sources, however, said that the LPG cylinders in all three portions were found intact and had not exploded.
When TNIE spoke to residents of five neighbouring buildings affected by the blast, three of the adjoining houses had suffered severe damage to their walls, windows and pipelines.
One of the affected residents, B Abhinaya (21), said, “My parents and brother had gone to the hospital, and I was sleeping alone in the hall. Around 7.45 am, I suddenly heard a loud blast. I woke up in fear and rushed outside. I saw a boy sitting on a neighbour’s shoulder with most of his body severely burnt,” she said.
In another adjoining building, residents from two ground-floor portions have vacated their houses and temporarily shifted elsewhere.
“In our house, the walls, windows, car and water pipes were damaged. This was completely unexpected and we are clueless about how this happened,” said V Loghalakshmi (47), another neighbour.
The impact of the blast was so strong that even the windows of a G+3 apartment located opposite the house were damaged.
TNIE also spoke to Vairamuthu’s brother Chellamuthu, an auto driver from Ranipet. “When we visited him at the hospital, three of them had suffered nearly 80% burns. Doctors are trying their best. We never expected such a situation,” he said.
Furthermore, police registered an FIR under Section 194 of the BNS. Meanwhile, samples were collected from the spot for forensic examination, and the investigation is underway.