A gas leakage led to a major fire accident which took the lives a mother-daughter.
By Labani Mahanandy
The gas-leakage incident in Maruthi Nagar took the lives of a mother-daughter in two days. The In-charge of the Chandra Layout Police Station Inspector Brijesh Mathew said, “What we perceived, that they had left the gas-knob open, which has led to this mishap.”
The incident took place in the afternoon of November 19 when four people of a family caught fire from gas-leakage and were admitted to the Victoria Hospital.
The deceased two are identified as Chitravathi(52) and Sathyaprema(78). Chitravathi the daughter of Sathyaprema and Laxmi Narayana Rao(88) had come to meet her parents and brother Gurumurthy(42). Around 3:30 pm Sathyaprema went to make coffee and as she flamed the burner the fire caught her. Chitravathi, who had followed her mother in the kitchen got burnt the most. The neighbours broke the window and tried to save them.
The Victoria Hospital authority told the Softcopy, “Four people were admitted here in the evening of November 19. Out of them, Chitravathis’s condition was worst and in some hours she died. Her mother died yesterday as more than fifty per cent of her body had burnt and with her age, she couldn’t survive.”
“The father and the son are out of danger now”, they added.
The family was rescued by the neighbours and fire brigade. They were admitted to Victoria Hospital
The Fire and Emergency Department states, In 2018 there were 140 cases of gas cylinder explosion leading to the death of 20 people.
Inspector Mathew said, “The home had only three tiny rooms and with no ventilation system which worsened the situation. The worst part is they didn’t even get the smell of the leaking gas.”
One of the neighbours named Manjunath said, “We were sleeping when we heard a bursting sound and we ran downstairs. We broke the window glass and tried to extinguish the fire.”
“The fire brigade came in no time and helped in rescuing them.” He added
Sandhya Subramania, younger daughter of Sathyaprema is still in shock of the accident. She said, “I don’t know how did this happen and still am not able to comprehend but I guess one has to accept their fate. So, I’m trying to cope up with the loss and anyway I have my brother and father to look after now.”
The fire control officer, Mr Narsimha Murthy, who had gone for rescuing the family, told The Softcopy, “The home was so congested and there was no ventilation system which worsened the situation even further. They should have been more careful while using gas-cylinder. Tiny negligence can bring big mishaps like this.”
