Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, jan 27: Seven people, among them a two-year-old child, were seriously injured after a gas explosion sparked a fire inside a residential chawl in Malwani, Malad West, on Tuesday morning, officials said.
The incident occurred around 9.25 am in a ground-plus-two-storey structure near AC Masjid, close to Bharat Mata School. Fire brigade officials said the blaze was restricted to the first floor of the building but the force of the explosion caused structural damage to the floor above.
Preliminary investigations suggest that LPG gas leaked from a cylinder and accumulated on the first floor. When a resident attempted to light the stove with a matchstick, the trapped gas ignited, triggering a powerful explosion. The blast caused a portion of the second-floor slab to collapse.
A woman and her two-year-old grandson, who were on the second floor at the time, fell through the damaged flooring and sustained injuries. Local residents rushed all seven injured persons to nearby Aadhar Hospital and BDBA Hospital before emergency responders arrived at the scene.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) later shifted the injured to KEM Hospital for advanced treatment. Those injured were identified as Vijay Chaudhary (48), Tausif Khan (22), Ali Kasim (18), Ruma Chaudhary (43), Alisha Chaudhary (20), two-year-old Adil Shaikh, and Julekha Shaikh (47).
Dr Vinita Puri, head of the Burns Unit at KEM Hospital, said the victims belong to two families and are in critical condition. The first family includes a grandmother who has suffered 60 per cent burns and has been intubated, and her grandson, who sustained 17 per cent burns to his face and hands. “In children, burns above 15 per cent are considered severe,” Dr Puri explained.
The second family consists of a couple and their three children. The father, mother, and eldest son have been intubated, with burn injuries of 50 per cent, 35 per cent, and 75 per cent respectively. The couple’s 20-year-old daughter has 20 per cent burns and is also intubated, while their youngest child, aged 18, has sustained 17–18 per cent burns.
“All patients have facial burns and pulmonary injuries. Their condition remains critical,” Dr Puri said.
Authorities are continuing to assess the structural safety of the building and are investigating the exact cause of the gas leak.