20130930 India Gas leak sparks fire at restaurant owner’s house
India Sep 29 2013 “Houses” “Stores”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 1 to 9
Gas leak sparks fire at restaurant owner’s house
Updated: 2013-10-01-05:12
CHENNAI: A 24-year-old man suffered burns and a four-member family had a miraculous escape when a fire triggered by a gas leak engulfed a restaurant owner’s house in Mylapore on Monday morning.
Police said the accident occurred around 8.45am when Jasmine, 32, was trying to light a stove after replacing a cylinder in the kitchen of the second floor house on Mundakakaniamman Street. The old cylinder had apparently been leaking and the woman didn’t notice. As she tried to light the stove, a fire broke out. Jasmine took her five month-old daughter Nakshatra and ran out of the house Her brother Iqbal, 24, who rushed into the kitchen to douse the fire sustained injuries, police said. He is now undergoing treatment at a private hospital. Most of the furniture and several other pieces of equipment in the house were completely damaged in the blaze.
Jasmine’s husband Venkatesh, 40, who owns the Idly Vilas restaurant on Radhakrishnan Salai, and their four-year-old son Sarvesh were asleep in the bedroom and were trapped inside. Soon, “they were peeping out of the window and shouting for help,” said Murugan, a neighbour.
Based on the alert from the house owner who lived on the first floor, police and fire and rescue services officials arrived at the spot. Donning protective equipment and self-contained breathing apparatus, station fire officer Ravanan, fireman Rajesh and driver Sripathy managed to enter the bedroom and brought Venkatesh and his son out after wrapping wet blankets round them.
“I was reading a newspaper, when I heard a loud explosion. Before I could realise what was happening, I saw one of the residents come running downstairs,” house owner Mani said. After preliminary investigations, police said the cylinder leak was probably caused as the washer in the LPG cylinder was not properly fixed. Jasmine did not check the cylinder properly before replacing it. Venkatesh and his family had taken the house on rent about one-and-a-half-years ago. The Mylapore police have registered a case.
Websource:The Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Gas-leak-sparks-fire-at-restaurant-owners-house/articleshow/23325922.cms
Date:2013-10-01
Country:India