Gas leakage and cylinder blast in Bandra injures 10

The Fitter Gully area is part of thousands of shanties, mostly ground-plus-one structures. According to the Mumbai fire brigade, the fire was confined to the electric wiring, electric installation and a stock of clothes in a 10ft-by-10ft house

MUMBAI: A leak in a gas cylinder pipe and the subsequent explosion of the cylinder caused a Level 1 fire that injured 10 people at Fitter Gully in Bandra’s Gazdar Bandh area on Saturday morning. Seven of these were admitted to hospital.

Mumbai, India - Nov 18, 2023 : 8 people were injured after a cylinder blast in Filtar Galli Gazdhar bandh, Khar, in Mumbai, India, Saturday, Nov 18, 2023. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo)

Around 5.30 am, residents were woken from their sleep by screams that a fire had broken out in the neighbourhood. While the Mumbai fire brigade extinguished the fire at 6.40 am, the injured were rushed to the BMC’s Bhabha Hospital in Bandra.

Dr Vidya Thakur, chief medical superintendent of the civic body, said that 10 patients were brought to Bhabha Hospital, of whom two were discharged against medical advice and two—Rakesh Ramjanam Sharma, 38, and Kalicharan Majilal Kanojiya, 54, both of whom suffered severe burn injuries—were shifted to the BMC’s Kasturba Hospital in Byculla for further management. Kasturba Hospital doctors said the two were stable and were being closely monitored before the hospital decided on the further course of treatment.

Dr Thakur said that of those remaining in Bhabha Hospital, three had burn injuries while one suffered a fracture and the other a minor cut on the leg. Their names, according to BMC officials and hospital authorities, are Nikhil Jogesh Das, 53, Anthony Paul Thengal, 65, Shan Ali Zakir Ali Siddiqui, 31, Samsher, 50, Sangita, 32, Gangasagar Rampal Verma, 40 and Seeta, 45.

The Fitter Gully area is part of thousands of shanties, mostly ground-plus-one structures. According to the Mumbai fire brigade, the fire was confined to the electric wiring, electric installation and a stock of clothes in a 10ft-by-10ft house. “As per our preliminary investigation, there was a gas leakage in the room concerned,” said Ravindra Ambulgekar, chief fire officer, Mumbai fire brigade. “A person woke up in the morning and tried to light the gas, which caused a fire. Due to the intensity of the heat, the cylinder blasted, causing injuries to many others.”

When HT visited the spot, it found that the area had ground-plus-one houses with narrow lanes. The impact of the gas cylinder was so severe that the roofs of a few houses were damaged and others had suffered structural damage. Champa Sharma, mother of Rakesh who is in Kasturba Hospital with nearly 50 percent burns, said that when they heard the screams, her son ran out to see what was happening. “He tried to douse the fire but got severely burnt in the process,” she said.

According to locals, the unit that caught fire had a garment-manufacturing unit, and the clothes further spread the flames. “The area is a mix of small commercial units and houses,” said Gaurav More, local leader from the Shiv Sena (UBT). “The garments exacerbated the fire. I met the patients, and we will provide them with the necessary help.”