Six members of a family, including two minor boys, were killed after the leakage of gas from an LPG cylinder triggered an explosion in their one-room rented accommodation in the Tehsil Camp area of Panipat on Thursday morning.
The police identified the deceased as Abdul Karim, 50, his wife Afroza, 46, and their children, Ishrat, 18, Reshma, 16, Abdul, 10, and Arfan, 7. The police said the room where the family lived is on the first floor of a godown.
Panipat superintendent of police (SP) Sashank Kumar Sawan said preliminary investigation reveals that the incident took place due to the LPG cylinder leak and when a member of the family tried to light the burner of the stove, it triggered a blast. He said the incident took place at 6.30 am.
The room had a bed and a kitchen and soon after the blast, it caught fire leading to the death of all six members of the family. The police said their neighbours after hearing the screams rushed to the spot and broke the door open but they could not take them out due to the fire in the room.
The neighbours told the police that Ishrat’s marriage was fixed. Mohammad Khan, a relative of the deceased, told the police that the family hailed from West Bengal and now they had shifted to Panipat as Abdul and his wife were working in a textile unit there.
{{/usCountry}}The neighbours told the police that Ishrat’s marriage was fixed. Mohammad Khan, a relative of the deceased, told the police that the family hailed from West Bengal and now they had shifted to Panipat as Abdul and his wife were working in a textile unit there.
{{/usCountry}}A fire tender was rushed to the spot, while the room was reduced to ashes within minutes.
The bodies were sent for post-mortem and Karim’s extended family in West Bengal was informed.