Twin cylinder blast kills 5 in Lucknow

Five members Five family members died, and four were injured in a house explosion caused by two LPG cylinders in Hata Hazrat Sahab, under Kakori Police Station, at 10:30 PM Tuesday.

The blast followed a fire from a short circuit. Three fire brigade teams and locals extinguished the fire. Nine family members were hospitalized at King George Medical University Trauma Centre, where five succumbed to injuries.

The deceased were identified as Mushir, 50, his wife Husn Bano, 45, Raiya, 7, Uma, 4, and Hina, 2, they said.

Isha, 17, Lakab, 21, Amjad, 34, and Anam, 18, were hospitalised with burn injuries, police added.

District Magistrate Suryapal Gangwar said of the four under care at the hospital, two are critical with 90 per cent burns, while the other two had 40 per cent and 50 per cent burn injuries. When asked whether the house was being used to run a cracker factory, as some reports suggested, the DM said no such information has yet come to the fore. “Our teams are probing the matter.”

“While four persons came out charred, Mushir came out safe. He then went inside the house to save the others but trapped in the fire.

At around 11.10 when lights were switched on a blast took place,” he said. Jamil Ahmad said that those who died included Mushir, his wife, and niece and nephew. Tahsin Ahmand, another witness, said the cylinder blast took place after a short circuit.