Cylinder explodes in west Delhi, 3 hurt

Three people, including an 11-year-old girl, were injured after an LPG cylinder exploded on the second floor of a four-storey residential building at Uttam Nagar in west Delhi on Monday, the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) officials said.

The injured victims have been identified as Nakul Singh, 18, Reena Kumar, 22, and a minor girl Surbhi (police identified her by single name), 11, they added.

DFS chief Atul Garg said that they received a call regarding the explosion and the subsequent fire and collapsing of the building at 2.15pm.

Officials said that a part of the building crumbled after a wall from the second floor collapsed due to the explosion.

“We managed to douse the flames by 3.35pm. It took an hour to bring the fire under control and rescue all the locals. During the operation, Nakul sustained burn injuries and was rushed to the Safdarjung Hospital,” Garg said.

He added that Surbhi suffered an injury in her leg after she jumped from one of the floors of the building. She was sent to a private clinic, where doctors stated her condition to be stable.

Reena, who lives in the adjacent house, received a head injury due to the wall collapse, DFS chief said.

“Reena was also rushed to a nearby private clinic by the local people. The affected building comprises ground plus four floors and was constructed on 42 sq yards,” Garg added.

DCP Dwarka Ankit Singh said, “ We received a call at 02:17pm about the incident. Police officials reached the spot and evacuated the residents of the surrounding buildings. Three fire tenders were pressed into service.”

Police said that Nakul and his mother live on the second floor. “Due to cylinder blast, the building caught fire and a potion of a wall also collapsed. Nakul got injured and has been shifted to BM Gupta Hospital. Two others also sustained minor injuries,” added DCP Singh.