Seventeen people sustained burn injuries after a domestic gas cylinder caught fire and exploded in a shanty in northwest Delhi on Sunday

The incident took place in the Lal Bagh area of Azadpur and the fire department received a call about the blaze around 10 am, they said. Seventeen people were injured in the explosion, but no death has been reported so far, the officials said.

“We rushed three fire tenders to the spot as per the call received and found out that an LPG cylinder blast occurred in a shanty of 25-yard size. Initially, we were told that five people have sustained burn injuries,” Director, Delhi Fire Service, Atul Garg said.

According to the police, five houses were damaged due to the blast and 17 people sustained burn injuries.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Usha Rangnani said, “A PCR call around 10.08 am was received in Adarsh Nagar police station related to a fire in a house near Lalbagh masjid, Azadpur, due to a gas cylinder blast in which five persons were injured.”

However, on reaching the spot, it was found that 17 people had sustained burn injuries and were shifted to a hospital, she said.

Sixteen had suffered minor injuries and were taken to BJRM, while one person was admitted to RML hospital, the police officer said.

On preliminary enquiry, it was found that one Pappu Kumar was changing domestic gas cylinder in his house on the third floor of a building and in the process it exploded, following which the roof and walls of his house collapsed. Due to its impact, four other houses on the second floor also collapsed, she said.

The fire was doused off and the cooling process is underway, the officials added.

Police said a case has been registered in the matter under sections 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees or upwards) of the Indian Penal Code at Adarsh Nagar police station.

(Cover: Representational image: Getty)