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Cylinder blast rocks Old City, three hurt
PANIC GRIPPED the Kashmiri Mohalla locality of Old City on Thursday morning following a major explosion in a house. A couple and their minor kid were injured critically while a local resident trapped in the debri of the blast suffered burn injuries too.
PANIC GRIPPED the Kashmiri Mohalla locality of Old City on Thursday morning following a major explosion in a house. A couple and their minor kid were injured critically while a local resident trapped in the debri of the blast suffered burn injuries too.
The child and the woman were battling for life at the KGMU. SSP GK Goswami said primary investigation indicated the explosion was caused by an LPG cylinder. Bomb disposal squad submitted its interim report stating no explosive substance was found from the spot, the SSP said.
Local residents ran out of the house as the vicinity echoed with the explosion at around 5.40 am. They ran towards the area affected to see smoke billowing out of Vinod Awasthi’s house. A shopkeeper, Dinesh Kashyap, was found lying injured outside the house.
People ran towards the house to find ceiling and the walls collapsed and Awasthi’s tenant Sushil Gupta (35) and his eight-year-old son Om buried under the debri. Residents removed the wreckage and rushed the duo to the KGMU.
Meanwhile, they saw Gupta’s wife Prema (30) lying in front of the door of another house. The couple and their son had suffered serious burn injuries.
The landlord Awasthi who was sleeping on his first floor room fell on ground floor portion of Gupta’s as the ceiling collapsed. He fell along with his bed and suffered minor injuries.
Senior officials rushed to the place along with dog and bomb disposal squad. They inspected the house to find the explosion had caused damage to the walls badly and the ceiling was collapsed. The impact of the blast could be gauged from the fact that Gupta’s wife was thrown out and was lying at the door of another house located in front of her house.
Kashyap, the lone eyewitness of the incident, said he was walking to his shop nearby. As he reached close to Awasthi’s house, the deafening blast occurred. Kashyap fell with the impact of the explosion and could only see thick smoke billowing out of the house.
On the other hand, Awasthi said he was fast asleep and found himself on the ground by the time he heard the explosion. He could not see anything for about 10 minutes as the entire house was filled with thick smoke. The room had turned into a dilapidated structure. Awasthi ran out of the house and screamed for help.
Gupta, his wife and their son were unconscious.
Despite rigorous inspection of the house, police officials could not find even a small particle of the LPG cylinder which appeared the primary cause of the explosion. Forensic experts and the bomb disposal squad too collected remains from the wreckage in the house. But, they also said that they did not find any explosive substance.
SSP Goswami said he had asked the doctors attending the injured couple and the child about the nature of injuries. The doctors said the burns did not appear as caused by any explosive substance.
