Tuesday night turned out to be tragic for a family in Chennai when an LPG cylinder blast in their house in Moolakolatham took the life of a woman. The relatives blame delayed medical help for their death.
Inbadevi, (58), the deceased, returned to the house with her husband, Kulandaivel, (67), and her son, Dhinakaran, (31) from the temple around 8:40 pm. "They opened the door as there was not any electricity in the house with the torchlight on their phone and the LPG cylinder blasted," said Kalpana, Inbadevi's relative.
The neighbours and Inbadevi's elder son came running to put off the fire. "We wrapped all of them in bedsheets and called 108 for ambulance service. All the residents were calling 108 and none of the ambulances came. We waited for 40 minutes for help," said Kalpana.
Then they took three of them to Stanley hospital in the neighbour’s vehicle. "Stanley hospital refused to treat them saying that they only accept accident cases, burn cases should go to Kilpauk government hospital," she said.
They were rushed to Kilpauk government hospital and treated around 10:30pm. Inbadevi succumbed to her injuries on Wednesday morning. "If the ambulance service had come on time, Inbadevi's life could be saved “, Kalpana said.
Both Kulandaivel and Dhinakaran are admitted in Kilpauk government hospital with 62 percent burns.
An FIR has been filed in Moolakolatham police station.