At least seven people were buried alive after a two-storey residential building collapsed following an LPG cylinder explosion at Gundappa Layout, Ejipura, on Monday morning.
“The building is more than 20 years old. At around 6 a.m., there was a loud noise, either due to gas cylinder explosion or building collapse,” said Karnataka State Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy.
Eyewitnesses said the blast took place at around 7am. They heard a blast and the 20-year-old building was reduced to a pile of rubble.
Bengaluru Development Minister K.J. George has announced that a compensation of Rs 5 lakh would be given to the kin of the deceased.
According to police, the victims are Kalavathi (68), Ravichandran (46), Hariprasad (45), Pavan Kalyan (36).
Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy also visited the spot and said that cylinders on both the ground and first floor of the building had no gas in them and could have been the cause of collapse.
The incident took place at around 7:00 a.m. in the morning.
Soon after the incident, the fire brigade and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) had rushed to the spot and rescued people from the debris. A five-year-old girl was among the miraculous rescue, while the parents died in the incident.
