Two firemen died and as many were injured after an LPG cylinder exploded when they were fighting a blaze at a shop in west Delhi’s Vikaspuri area on Friday. The cylinder blast occurred when a fire brigade team had gone to attend a fire call on Friday at 5.35 am.
Two firefighters, Hari Singh Meena and Hari Om, died after getting trapped in the fire caused by the blast, a Delhi Fire Services official told PTI. Two other firefighters, Navin and Ravinder Singh, suffered injuries and are undergoing treatment at BL Kapur Hospital. Their condition is stated to be critical.
“We received a call at around 5.30 AM about a fire breaking out in a small 10×10 shop in H Block, Lal Market in Vikaspuri. Two fire-tenders were rushed to the spot,” said the official. The cause of the initial blaze has not been ascertained yet.
In a statement to Hindustan Times, the chief fire officer said a gas cylinder inside the shop blew up while the fire fighters were trying to break open the shutters of the restaurant that was ablaze. It is suspected that the explosion occurred due to gas leak.
The police will further probe to find out whether the restaurant is running illegally and whether the explosion took place due to negligence in safety measures. The police have already registered a case of death due to negligence.
(With PTI inputs)
(Feature image source: PTI | Reuters)