Three members of a family were killed and 12 others injured when the house they were in collapsed in Maharashtra Nagar area of Mankhurd due to cylinder blast, a fire brigade official said.
The ground plus one-storey structure caved in due to an LPG cylinder explosion in the house at Maharashtranagar near MHADA colony in Mankhurd at around 6.15 AM, he said.
15 persons including four women and seven children, were trapped under the debris. They were rushed to a nearby hospital, where two were declared brought dead while one succumbed to injuries during treatment, an official attached to Mumbai civic body’s disaster control room said.
The blast caused fire and the residents of Maharashtra Nagar called the fire brigade. The firemen rescued at least 20 people. In total, members of four families were victims of the blast.
The deceased have been identified as Kasturba Wankhede (60), Rekha Wankhede (30) and Sanjay Wankhede (25), the official said.
“At 6 am, we heard a blast and all ran outside. All opened the doors but it was fully black and we could not see anything. We realised there is a fire and we informed the fire brigade. When the fire was doused, we learnt that 3 houses had collapsed and injured were taken to hospital”, said Anusaya Chavan, a resident of Maharashtra Nagar.
The Trombay police have done the primary investigation. “We think the cylinder blast was due to gas leakage. At present anything concrete cannot be said. We are yet to talk to injured people as they are under emergency care,” said Sunil Khade of Trombay police station. The remains of the structures are being demolished. Further investigation will be carried out by Trombay police.
