Woman killed in stove blast in Thane

A 23-year-old woman was killed when a fire broke out in her house in Thane on Sunday morning.

A 23-year-old woman was killed when a fire broke out in her house in Thane on Sunday morning.

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Sheetal Bhise, who lived at Phukane chawl, King Kong Nagar, near Vijay Nagari on Ghodbunder road, was cooking around 10 am and had stoked the stove, when the fire broke out.

“The husband of the deceased, Shrihari Bhise, 30, works as a private driver. He has to go for work at odd hours, which could even be early in the morning, or late at night,” said police inspector RD Malekar of Kasarwadavli police station.

“So he always kept a bottle of petrol at home, in case his motorcycle ran out of fuel. The bottle was kept on a short wall, used as a partition.”

He added, “While Sheetal was cooking, the bottle fell and the petrol spilled.”

It caught fire and Sheetal called out for her husband, who was watching television in the front room. He ran in to help her. Instead of running out, Sheetal ran inside the bathroom and closed the door. Shrihari then ran outside and in the meantime, the stove blasted.”

Fire officials rushed to the spot and doused the fire. The stove blast burnt the ceiling of Bhises’ house and an adjoining room was damaged. Officials said that Sheetal died on the spot and her body was taken to Thane Civil Hospital. Srihari sustained minor injuries and his hair got singed when he attempted to rescue his wife.

None of the other family members were injured in the incident as they were all out of the house at the time. Sheetal’s daughters, Prajakta Bhise, 4, and Snehal Bhise, 2, were playing outside, under their grandmother’s supervision, when the fire broke out.

The Kasarwadavli police have registered an accidental death report and further investigations are on.