Five of family injured in cooking gas cylinder blast

: Five members of a family were injured when a fire broke out in their four-storey house in Dwarka South here after two cooking gas cylinders exploded on different floors, police said on Wednesday.

The incident occurred on Tuesday night when a party was underway on the ground floor of the house in Palam Vihar locality.

Families of four brothers lived on separate floors in the house. The family staying on the first floor was out of town at the time of the incident.

Four fire tenders were pressed into service and the flames were doused after two hours, according to fire officials.

There were two explosions -- first on the third floor and then on the fourth floor. Due to the blasts, a portion of the third floor of the house

collapsed and a water tank on the terrace developed cracks, police said.

Ram Bharose (72), Satya Narayan (62), Radhe Shyam (48) and his wife Chandra (47), and Anil (43) were injured in the blast and hospitalised, police said.

Satya Narayan and Radhe Shyam are undergoing treatment at the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital. Ram Bharose, Anil and Chandra sustained critical burn injuries and were referred to the Safdarjung Hospital, they said.

It is suspected that gas leakage from a cylinder led to the explosions. The exact cause will be known once the investigation concludes, they added.

A case has been registered under sections 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter) and 337 (causing hurt by an act endangering the life or safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code at Dwarka South police station in connection with the incident, police said.

Some neighbours of the family claimed to have sustained minor injuries after being hit by flying debris.