Toll in Trombay bakery blast rises to 5; manager arrested

The toll in Wednesday's cylinder explosion at a bakery in Trombay rose to five, when 25-year-old Mohamad Iftikar Ansari succumbed to his injuries on Thursday. The number of injured stands at forty.

The toll in Wednesday's cylinder explosion at a bakery in Trombay rose to five, when 25-year-old Mohamad Iftikar Ansari succumbed to his injuries on Thursday. The number of injured stands at forty.

HT Image

On Thursday, police arrested the manager of the unit and booked him for culpable homicide (not amounting to murder). They are now on the lookout of the owner of the property Rajima Yasin, 60, who is away on a pilgrimage.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that the manager Mohamad Ikrar Idris Ansari, 40, had illegally stored several LPG cylinders inside Uzaire bakery. Ansari also had deputed poorly-trained persons to handle the oven in the unit. The police stated that these two factors contributed to the disaster, following, which the structure tumbled down, killing five. However, they are awaiting the fire brigade's report before making any concrete declarations.

Investigations into the incident also revealed that two of the dead — 12-year-old Zahid Shaikh and his mother Zahida — died after the wall of the bakery collapsed on them. Afroz Shah, another victim, was passing by the spot when the explosion took place. Shah died of injuries later.

The incident took place at around 1.45pm on Wednesday. The ground-plus-one structure on in Cheetah Camp, Trombay, came down like a pack of cards after the blast.