New Delhi: Tragedy struck a family which was holding wedding celebrations as a leaking LPG cylinder exploded killing five of its members, three women and two minor girls, in the Jasola area of southeast Delhi this morning.
Police and fire department had initially said that six persons were killed in the incident, but once the fire was completely doused and the charred bodies brought out, it was
found that the blaze had claimed the lives of three women and two minor girls.
The deceased have been identified as the groom, Islam's, mother Munnissira (40), his aunt Mohsina (30), his uncle's mother-in-law, Bhoori Khatoon (55), four-year-old Iram and the three-year-old Sarah.
The groom's family had left for the wedding venue today morning but returned without solemnising the marriage after learning of the tragedy.
The two-bedroom residence of the family, which was on the first floor of a recently constructed six-storeyed building, had mostly women in it at the time of the incident as most of the men had gone to Bijnor as part of Islam's ‘barat'.
“The incident took place at around 11 A.M. when there were around 20-25 people in the house. The gas cylinder's pipe was found to be leaking during cooking. As a woman tried to plug the leak, the pipe broke and the gas escaped out,” police said quoting eyewitnesses.
A male family member then asked everybody to vacate the house, but before all could do so, the gas combusted with an explosion, burning those who were still inside the house.
The kitchen was located towards the entrance of the house and thus prevented speedy evacuation, police said.
Electrical fans which were on inside the house fanned the blaze, which spread rapidly as it fed on highly combustible material like cloth, etc.
Locals tried to douse the fire using sand and water, but their efforts were to no avail.
Following a call to the fire department at around 11:30 A.M., three fire tenders were rushed to the spot.
By the time the fire was brought under control, the five victims were charred beyond recognition. The bodies have been moved to Safdarjung Hospital for autopsy, police said.
A case has been registered in connection with the matter under Section 304A (death due to negligence) of IPC at Sarita Vihar police station and inquiries are on. Islam and his father Idrees run a tobacco products shop in the area. They had also rented out the other floors of the building to tenants.
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