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Five killed, 13 injured in Tamil Nadu cylinder blast
The injured have been admitted to Salem Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College and Hospital. One of the survivors has more than 80% burns and is battling for life, police said.
Five persons died and 13 others were injured in a LPG gas cylinder blast in Tamil Nadu’s Salem district on Tuesday, police said.
Rescue operation with heavy police deployment worked for several hours as the accident occurred in a two-storey residential house in Shevapet. A total of four families were residing in the building and the homes were completely destroyed. Several victims had been trapped under the debris, which made rescue operations harder and longer, officials said.
“We reduced a 10-year girl who was crushed under the debris but she was alive. We recovered four other people from the debris in the afternoon, but they had died,” said Najmul Hoda, commissioner of police, Salem.
The injured have been admitted to Salem Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College and Hospital. One of the survivors has more than 80% burns and is battling for life, police said.
The accident occurred when one of the residents, an 80-year-old Rajalakshmi, ignited a gas stove in the morning to make tea and the cylinder exploded. The impact led to the building collapsing. Rajalakshmi succumbed to her injuries on the way to her hospital.
Chief minister M K Stalin announced a relief of ₹5-lakh each to the families of the deceased and a solatium of ₹50,000 for the injured.
