Ghaziabad: Infant boy killed, five others injured in fire triggered by LPG cylinder leak

A six-month-old boy died and five members of his family, including his parents, suffered severe burn injuries in a fire that allegedly started from a leak in the LPG cylinder at their home in Arthala locality on Wednesday morning, the police said.
Police said the incident happened early Wednesday morning, but they were not alerted immediately and got to know of it only around 10.30pm through a hospital memo from the MMG district hospital where the injured were taken to for treatment initially. They were later shifted to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi.
The police identified the injured persons as Pramod Kumar, 28, his wife Renu Devi, 25, and their relatives Pramod Kumar, Ajay Kumar and Budh Pal. Pramod’s and Renu Devi’s infant boy sustained severe burns and succumbed during treatment.
“Our teams went to the spot and got to know from locals that Renu Devi was about to prepare tea in the morning and as soon as she lit the stove, there was a blast of fire. Locals said it was probably due to leakage from the small LPG cylinder that the couple used for cooking. Pramod’s and Renu Devi’s infant boy sustained severe burns and succumbed during treatment,” said Rajneesh Kumar Upadhyaya, assistant commissioner of police, Sahibabad.
A forensics team also inspected the spot.
“We found that the fire did not last long; otherwise there could have been more casualties. The husband and wife suffered about 50% burns, while their relatives suffered lesser burns. All are admitted to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi,” the ACP said.
Police said one of the windows had an air-cooler installed over it and it drove out the excess gas that got leaked.
The ACP said that only a sari on a clothes line inside the house got burnt in fire; everything else was intact.
On June 23, a woman and her two minor daughters were killed in a fire allegedly triggered by a LPG cylinder leak at their home in Defence Colony, Ghaziabad. A week later, the woman’s husband and their son also succumbed to burn injuries, police said.