A balloon worker was killed and another person injured after a helium cylinder exploded in the premises of a Bengaluru apartment in Ashok Nagar on July 3. According to reports, the 19-year-old deceased identified as Dinesh was working with a party organizing company called Party.com and had gone to decorate an apartment with balloons. Reports stated that the incident occurred around 7.45 pm on July 3 in an apartment on Ashok Nagar’s Langford Road. Officials said that a resident had organised a birthday party for her friend’s birthday and had ordered balloons through the website.
Dinesh and his assistant Mahadev had gone to the apartment to decorate it with 200 balloons. The police told The New Indian Express that Dinesh was filling the balloons at the apartment’s entrance and the cylinder was placed on his scooter when the explosion took place. Dinesh sustained severe injuries and succumbed to them on the spot while his assistant suffered minor injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital, the police said. The police said that the body of the deceased was handed over to the family after a postmortem.
A report in Deccan Herald quoted a police official saying that the blast would have claimed three- four lives had the incident occurred inside the apartment. The report further stated that the number of invitees is yet to be ascertained and that the woman and her friend had not been booked yet.
The party organizing company has been booked by the jurisdictional Ashok Nagar police for negligence on Sunday, stated the TNIE. According to the report, the police said that the company will be issued a notice by the police on July 5. The police said that the company had allegedly not provided them with safety gear and the duo was not following scientific methods to fill the balloons.