A fire and rescue services personnel was killed and 48 were injured when an LPG cylinder exploded during a fire that broke out in a bakery near here, police said on Sunday. Fifty three-year-old Egaraj along with other firefighters was attempting to douse a fire at the bakery at Kodungaiyur, when the tragedy took place late Saturday night, they said.
When they opened the shutter, the cylinder exploded and the fire spread, injuring the firemen and those standing in the vicinity, they added.
Police suspect that the initial cause of the fire was an electric short circuit. The injured were admitted to government and private hospitals here. Meanwhile, Chief Minister K Palaniswami visited the injured at one hospital here.