3 of a family charred to death

Three members of a family, including a six-year-old, were charred to death and one other suffered severe burn injuries when a cooking gas cylinder exploded in their house in Old Delhi's Hauz Qazi area at 8:15am on Saturday morning. HT reports.

Three members of a family, including a six-year-old, were charred to death and one other suffered severe burn injuries when a cooking gas cylinder exploded in their house in Old Delhi's Hauz Qazi area at 8:15am on Saturday morning.

HT Image

The blast took place in Shahbuddin's house when his sister-in-law Meena was preparing morning tea. His wife Nazreen and daughter Nizba, 6, were at home at the time of explosion while his two sons were in school.

"His sister-in-law had come two days ago to stay with the family. She was preparing tea when the cooking gas regulator started leaking. His wife escaped the explosion as she was not in the room," said Sayeed Mirza, Shahbuddin's neighbour, who tried helping the family.

Shahbuddin, 40, a native of Bilaspur, Gautam Budh Nagar, was working as a carpenter in the area for the last six years and was staying as a tenant there.

"I got a call around 9am from the neighbours. We still haven't told our ailing parents about the incident," said Allaudin, Shahbuddin's brother, who lives in Bilaspur, Greater Noida.

The neighbours who heard the explosion rushed to help the family but it was too late. "Flames were coming out from the house. His wife was screaming and she also suffered severe burns in her right hand as she tried to rescue her daughter. Within 30 to 40 minutes everything was finished," said Mirza.

Two fire tenders were sent to the spot and the fire was doused within half an hour.