One person was killed and nine others, including two children, were injured in a suspected cooking gas cylinder explosion in Hyderabad's Kapra area on Friday. The explosion took place at around 7.30 am at a residential building that belonged to Mohanlal Chand, who owns a gold jewellery store. The two-floored building was destroyed in the explosion and the debris has damaged the adjoining buildings, which included a private hospital.
Locals said that they could hear the loud explosion nearly 500 meters away.
According to reports, Mohanlal was flung out of his home during the explosion and was grievously injured. His condition has reportedly been deteriorating. Suresh, a lab technician, working in New Life Line Hospital and others immediately rushed to his help and cleared the debris and alerted police.
One person identified as Ravi, who was passing by the house to open his hair cutting saloon for the day, was hit by a huge boulder. He was rushed to the New Life Line Hospital located nearby, but he succumbed to his injuries. While three other people are currently availing treatment at New Life Line Hospital, others have been shifted to other hospitals as their conditions remain critical.
Recalling the incident, Suresh, said, "We were asleep in the hospital and suddenly we heard a loud explosion which almost deafened us. We immediately ran out of the hospital to check what happened, we couldn't see anything; there was just dust everywhere because the walls had collapsed. We found Mohanlal under the debris."
Locals alleged that police arrived almost an hour after they were alerted. Along with the local police, the state Disaster Response Force and a dog squad were pressed into action to investigate the reason for the explosion.
Preliminary examination by the police revealed that the blast was a gas cylinder explosion. A police officer, R Saidulu said, "For now it looks like the explosion was a result of the gas cylinder. A full investigation is underway. We can find the reason for the blast only after a thorough investigation."
Though police claim that it is a gas cylinder explosion, locals are not convinced. Raju, a neighbour, whose mother has been injured in the blast, said, "There were no flames in the explosion. We suspect that it was a bomb explosion."
The Central team of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation have cleared the debris which was strewn across the main road and neighbourhood.