Mumbai: 3 dead, 14 injured in cylinder blast in Mankhurd

In a cylinder blast early Thursday morning in Mankhurd's Maharashtra Nagar, three people died and 14 were injured.

The LPG gas cylinder burst around 6 am in a two-storeyed house, which caused the upper floor to collapse on the one-storeyed houses next to it. The dead bodies were taken to Shatabdi Hospital, Govandi, and the injured were hospitalised in Shatabdi and Sion hospitals.

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. Out of five members of Wankhede family, three were declared brought dead viz Kasturbha Wankhede (60), Rekha Wankhede (30) and Sanjay Wankhede (35) and two were injured. 

“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.