Gas cylinder blast kills five
The Hindu
13 suffer injuries; two double-storey buildings collapse
Five persons died and 13, including children, were injured when two double-storey buildings collapsed in the impact of a gas cylinder blast in a house at Karungalpatti in Salem district on Tuesday.
The cylinder exploded in the house of Rajalakshmi, 80, on Pandurangan Vittal Road around 6.45 a.m., and the double-storey house and the adjacent building collapsed. Rajalakshmi succumbed to the injuries. Six other houses in the vicinity were damaged, revenue officials said.
The police said Rajalakshmi’s son-in-law Gopi, 53, who was into making snacks at home, suffered 90% burns. Mr. Gopi, among the first to be rescued from under the debris, was rushed to the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital (GMKMCH). Padmanabhan, 49, his wife Devi, 39, Karthik Ram, 18, and Ellammal, 90, were pulled out of the debris and rushed to the hospital where doctors declared them dead.