Updated at 11.45 pm
Antop Hill victims admitted to Sion, KEM hospitals
MUMBAI: A cooking gas cylinder exploded on Friday in Antop Hill, leaving 66 injured, six of them critically. However, the presence of mind of residents prevented any casualties. The victims have been taken to hospital, at Sion and to KEM in Parel.
According to Sanjay Sakat, an eye-witness and a resident of Shiv Nagar, “The residents at Shiv Nagar and Dnyandeep Nagar immediately switched off the electric supply. This kept the injury list down and stopped the fire from spreading further. There are more than 80 chawls in Shiv Nagar and 100 in Dnyandeep Nagar. They could have been razed to the ground.”
People were getting ready to leave for work when the cylinder exploded at 8 am. Sakat and his friends, Mangesh Sanpole and Taj, about 28, rushed to help. The other two got burn injuries. The leak apparently started from the house of Deepak Vithal, a dairy owner. He and his wife, son and mother have been admitted to hospital and are still unconscious. Dayanand Kamble, another resident, said, “The gas spread in a 50 ft radius in all directions. It is unclear how gas was ignited. Women washing clothes outside their home and children playing were burnt.”
Shivaji Ganpat Auti, police sub-inspector (Investigation Officer) at Antop Hill Police Station, said, “It was an accident probably caused by gas compression at Deepak’s house at Shiv Nagar. Until he regains consciousness, nothing can be said.” Neighbours told the police that Deepak’s wife notified him of the leak. Deepak took the cylinder out of the house and immersed it in a water tank. This is how the gas may have spread.
A fire officer at Antop Hill Fire Station said, “The fire went off before we reached the spot, with three fire engines and two ambulances. Victims were taken to hospitals within 30 minutes.”
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