Bengaluru: Just a day before the Independence Day, a domestic LPG cylinder blast in a two-storey building panicked the residents of RR Road in Eijipura on Sunday afternoon. Soon, after the blast, rumours spread that it was a low-intensity bomb explosion.
Three people, including a couple, were injured Senior police officials who rushed to the spot along with Fire and Emergency officials and forensic experts confirmed it to be a LPG blast.
The blast occurred on the ground floor of the residential building, Shalom, near Sundari Memorial School in Ejipura between 12.30 pm and 1 pm. The intensity of the blast was so high that neighbouring buildings developed cracks, while windows and doors of a few houses were shattered. A car parked outside the building too was damaged.
Sushma, 29, who hails from Kolkata, and lives in an adjacent house escaped with minor injuries, while a Kerala-based couple Muddassar, 29, who is a driver in Indiranagar, and his wife Shoma Biswas, 25, received 2 percent burns. All the three are tenants of Mr Mathew, who was away at the time of the incident. The injured were rushed to St. John's Hospital and are said to be out of danger.
Cubbon Park ACP Vinay A. Gaonkar, who headed the probe, said, “Leaking LPG cylinder caused the blast that took place on the ground floor of the two-storey building. The building has around 12 units and all are occupied.
The house where the blast occurred belonged to one Mr Mathew, who is from Kerala.”
He said, “A 10-year-old boy living on the first floor smelt the leaking gas and had raised an alarm. He told his parents about the leaking gas and knocked on all the 12 units to check if somebody forgot to switch off the regulator. But he didn't get any response from Muddassar and Sushma’s house as it was Sunday.”
The blast was followed by a lot of dust which panicked the residents.
Sandeep Patil, DCP (central division) said the FSL team that inspected the site concluded that it was due to gas leakage.
