Four members of family die in LPG cylinder blast

Atul Garg, director of the Delhi Fire Services, said nine fire tenders took about an hour to douse the fire caused by the explosion. “We rushed five people to the hospital. Of them, four were declared brought dead. They died of asphyxia. One of the family members suffered burn injuries.”

A 45-year-old woman and her three grown children — two sons and a daughter — died of suffocation when an LPG (liquid petroleum gas) cylinder exploded inside their house in East Delhi’s Farsh Bazar on Wednesday morning.

A portion of the roof had collapsed due to the explosion, the fire, officials said, adding that a gas stove repair shop was located in the front portion of the house. (Gurpreet Singh/HT file photo. Representative image)

Atul Garg, director of the Delhi Fire Services, said nine fire tenders took about an hour to douse the fire caused by the explosion.

“We rushed five people to the hospital. Of them, four were declared brought dead. They died of asphyxia. One of the family members suffered burn injuries.”

Fire officials identified the four dead as Munni Devi, 45, her sons — Naresh, 22, Om Prakash, 20, and daughter, Suman, 18. Officials said the survivor, One of their relatives, Lal Chand (29) sustained 25% burn injuries.

A portion of the roof had collapsed due to the explosion, the fire, officials said, adding that a gas stove repair shop was located in the front portion of the house. “All five members were rescued by fire service personnel with the help of police by breaking windows and doors of the house. They were then shifted to Dr Hedgewar Hospital by CATS ambulance. Four among them were declared brought dead by doctors,” said R Sathiyasundaram, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara).

A case has been registered under sections 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 304A (causing death by negligence) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the owner of the gas stove repair shop and his niece, according to the police.