LPG cylinder explodes, three killed; four injured in TN

Tiruvannamalai (TN): Three people, including an eight-year-old boy and his mother, were killed and four injured when a wall collapsed after a domestic LPG cylinder exploded near here on Sunday, police said.

The injured had been hospitalised and investigations were on with a case registered over the incident, suspected to have been triggered by a gas leak at a house in nearby Arani, a police official said.

When the cylinder exploded, a wall that divided portions of the house between the landlord and a tenant besides that of a neighbour collapsed.

J Kamatchi, the tenant, and her son J Hemanath, and neighbour S Chandra, died in the wall collapse. Kamatchi's husband M Janakiraman and another son J Suresh (15) were injured, the official said.

"Under the impact of the explosion, 55-year old D Mukthabai who owned the house on Pudhukamur Road and her 15- year old daughter D Meena sustained 90 and 50 per cent burns respectively," the official said.

After initial treatment at a state-run hospital in Arani, all the injured have been admitted to a government facility at neighbouring Vellore, he said.

Condoling the deaths, Chief Minister K Palaniswami announced a solatium of Rs two lakh each to the families of Kamatchi and Chandra and Rs one lakh each to severely injured and Rs 50,000 to those who sustained

injuries.