Mumbai: One more person who had sustained serious burn injuries after a leaking LPG cylinder exploded in the midst of a pre-wedding (haldi) ritual on the second floor of ground plus four-storey residential building in Lalbaug's Ganesh Galli on December 6, died on Saturday. The death toll has now risen to six and seven more are in critical condition, while three have been discharged.
The deceased has been identified as Vinayak Shinde (57). Besides, Sushila Bangare (62) was declared dead on the day of the incident. Karim (50), Mangesh Rane (61), Mahesh Munge (56) and Dnyandev Sawant (85) are the others who have died in the blast.
The incident occurred on the second floor of the Sarabhai building in Ganesh Galli. According to Mumbai Fire Brigade, a fire call was reported at 7.18am, following which fire-fighting and rescue teams reached the spot at 7.35am. "Since it was an explosion due to leakage, many people were injured. The fire was extinguished by the team at around 7.50am," said fire brigade personnel on the spot.
The family had made food arrangements for guests during a haldi ceremony. However, there was a gas leakage which resulted in an explosion, the impact of which caused the common wall between the two rooms and a window to collapse, injuring most of those present there.
Neighbours, along with the local corporator Anil Kokil, rushed the injured to the hospital before the arrival of the fire brigade. The firefighters managed to extinguish the fire in less than an hour. Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar had also visited the spot as well as the hospitals.
Officials said that there was a gas leakage causing the minor fire and cylinder explosion. Several relatives had assembled at the bride’s house for the haldi ceremony. In the morning, one of the people alerted others to the strong smell of gas in the kitchen. The bride’s father and other relatives rushed to the kitchen to investigate when the cylinder exploded.
Meanwhile, families of the deceased Sushila Bangera and Karim had received compensation of Rs 2 lakh from the Mumbai collector’s office on Wednesday, while the injured received Rs 50,000.
