5 hurt in blast after man forgets to switch off gas in Nalasopara

A 29-years-old Nalasopara resident, 3 minor girls and a 65-year-old woman suffered severe burns on Saturday after he switched on the kitchen lights after forgetting to switch off the gas the previous night.

According to the Nalasopara police, Pramod Pandey, 29, a resident of Mahalakshmi Apartment in MD Nagar of Nalasopara East cooked food on Friday night and dozed off before switching off the gas supply. As soon as he switched on the kitchen lights at around 9 am on Saturday, there was a huge explosion and flames engulfed his residence. Also injured were Komal Gupta,14, Mayuri Chavan, 17, Samiksha Chavan, 12 and Sugandha Chavan, 65. Pandey is in critical state and has been rushed to a burns speciality hospital in Mumbai.

"Due to the blast, around 8 glass panes were damaged and the noise was so loud that people suspected that a bomb blast had taken place," said a Nalasopara police official.

"The owner of the house has suffered more than 40 percent burns, but the other injured are out of danger. We are investigating and, if necessary, we will book the owner for negligence, said Suvez Haque, superintendent of Palghar police.