HYDERABAD: A house collapsed and a couple received burn injuries in a blast at Balapur on Tuesday night. It is suspected that the blast was caused by an LPG cylinder which was borrowed from a friend to cook delicacies on the eve of Bakrid. Such was the intensity of the blast that the roof of the house blew off, and one of the walls collapsed. Sheikh Sikander (40) received 90 per cent burns, while his wife Fathima (37) received 50 per cent burns. Both are said to be in a critical condition. Police said the gas leakage from an LPG cylinder in the house could have lead to the fire.
According to police, Sikander is a painter and Fathima is a daily wager.
They stay at Bismillah colony under Balapur police station limits. Though they had an electric stove in their house, they had borrowed the cylinder from a friend for Bakrid. On Tuesday night, they came home and started cooking, While Fathima was cleaning the house, Sikander was cooking on an electric stove, which was placed just beside the cylinder. In her dying declaration (DD), Fathima told police that she was cleaning the house while Sikander was frying papads when the blast took place.
“That is the only thing we remember. The next moment there was fire everywhere and we were also caught in the fire,” she said. They were not aware that the cylinder had a leakage. Hearing the couple’s cry for help and seeing the fire, neighbours rushed to their rescue. They were immediately pulled out of the house and rushed to Osmania Hospital. Based on Fathima’s statement, a case under charges of causing grievous hurt by act endangering life (338 IPC) was registered, said P Nagaraju, sub-inspector from Balapur police station.
It was found that the walls of the house were made of mud and the foundation was also very weak, due to which the effect was so severe. Sikander, who had married once before, left his first wife and married Fathima around 15 years ago. They did not have kids. They were residing in the rented house for the past three years for a rent of `1,800.