Mumbai: A 46-year-old woman, who had sustained serious burn injuries in a cylinder blast at a chawl in Jogeshwari (W) on Tuesday evening succumbed to her injuries on Sunday. The deceased, identified as Shakuntala Kagal, was one of the 15 victims who had sustained burn injuries in the incident. Kagal and two others were admitted in the civic-run Kasturba Hospital, who were said to be in a critical condition. The explosion occurred at Hanuman Chawl, Behram Baug, Vikas Nagar on Tuesday, after the gas leaked out of the cylinder kept inside a tea vendor’s house and spread in the locality. A fire official said the cylinder was kept in one of the hutments owned by a tea seller, who had forgotten to turn of the gas supply.
“When he was not at home, the gas leaked. On smelling it, some of the locals called the vendor when he returned to turn off the supply. After switching off the supply when he turned on the light, a spark led to the explosion,” said the fire official. A lot of people who had gathered in the narrow lane suffered burn injuries and even the first floor of the neighbour’s hutment collapsed due to the explosion. Speaking about Kagal, a doctor from Kasturba Hospital said, “She had suffered 65-70 per cent burns on the face, neck and chest. Though she was initially admitted to the Trauma Care Hospital along with the other injured, later she had to be shifted to Kasturba Hospital in Chinchpokli due to her serious condition.”
With one casualty reported on Sunday, two are said to be in a critical condition, getting treated at Kasturba Hospital. Meanwhile, seven patients are in a stable condition, getting treatments at Trauma Care Municipal Hospital and Sion Hospital. Five patients were discharged after treatment.
