Six injured after fire breaks out at grocery shop in Ghaziabad

Police said that illegal refilling of cylinders caused the fire, adding that several liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders and gas filling pipes were recovered from the spot

At least six people were injured after a fire broke out at a grocery shop in Khoda on Saturday morning, said police.

The gutted grocery shop at Khoda in Ghaziabad on Saturday. (Sakib Ali/ HT)

“We were informed about the incident that took place in Sangam Vihar area of Khoda at around 7.53am on Saturday and fire tenders were immediately deployed to douse the blaze”, said a fire department official.

Police said that illegal refilling of cylinders caused the fire, adding that several liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders and gas filling pipes were recovered from the spot.

The grocery shop is owned by one Ashok Prajapati — who lives on the first floor of the building with his family. “Local residents rescued the injured and they were rushed to a nearby hospital by the time the firefighters reached the spot. Apart from cylinders, we also recovered pipes. It suggests that there was some LPG refilling underway at the shop,” said Sunil Kumar Singh, chief fire officer.

“All items in the shop were gutted and the clothes of the victims also caught fire,” Singh added.

Fire officials said that the injured persons also include two children of Prajapati, son Vivek and daughter Aarti and three other locals who had come to the shop to buy items.

“A total of six persons got injured during the fire incident. Shopowner Prajapati suffered severe burn injuries while the other five persons are stable. We have not received any complaint so far, but we are investigating if there is any possibility of illegal refilling of LPG at the shop,” said Gyanendra Kumar Singh, superintendent of police (city 2).