Shahdara: 4 of family killed in cylinder blast, says fire dept

New Delhi: As many as four members of a family, including a 45-year-old woman and her 18-year-old daughter, died after suffocating to death as a result of a purported cylinder blast inside their house in Shahdara's Farsh Bazar area in the wee hours of Wednesday.

While the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) has claimed the mishap to be a result of a cylinder blast, Delhi Police officials have for now denied the same and stated that the incident was as the result of a short circuit in the Electricity Meter Board.

The deceased persons have been identified as one Munni Devi (45), her three sons Om Prakash (22), Naresh (23) and her 18-year-old daughter Suman. Her other son, one Lal Chand (29), is the sole surviving member of the family and has sustained 30 per cent burn injuries, officials said.

The family used to run a street food shop in the Anand Vihar area, police added.

As per police and the Delhi Fire Service (DFS), on Wednesday at around 12:08 am, a PCR call was received at Farsh Bazar Police Station regarding an incident of fire at Street number 10 in Bhikam Singh Colony following which a police team along with nine fire tenders and five PCR vans were rushed to the spot.

Thereafter, it became apparent that five persons were present inside the one-room-house where the alleged blast occurred and subsequently police and fire officials swung into action and broke open the window and door of the house and rescued the persons. They were subsequently shifted to Dr Hedgewar Hospital where four persons, except Lal Chand, were declared brought dead, primarily due to suffocation. They had no burn injuries, the police added.

DFS Chief Atul Garg said that the cause of the fire in the house was due to LPG leakage which further resulted in smoke which the four persons had inhaled while Chand sustained 30 per cent burn injuries as a result.

Garg added that the blast was inside a home which was part of a shop which was used to refill and store cylinders and that a part of the roof also collapsed after the blast.

"The information given out by DFS is wrong and the case is one of short-circuit since a blast would have had a more severe impact inside the premises...we brought the electrician in the nick of time to cut the faulty wiring else it would have had spread to other portions as well since the area is congested...even the forensic team has confirmed a short-circuit," a senior police officer said.

At the spot of incident, Chand claimed that at around midnight, he suddenly saw the roof of his house fall over due to the cylinders placed at the shop above his house blowing up.

DCP Sathiyasundaram said that an FIR under IPC sections 285 (Negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 304A (Causing death by negligence) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) has been filed against the owner and his niece, both of whom have been arrested.

They were running a gas stove, kerosene stove and small cylinder stove repairing shop in the front portion of the house. "The FIR has been filed against them since there were open ended wirings and sockets inside the shop that were unsafe and prone to catching fire," an officer said.