Mumbai: Seven people, including a two-year-old boy, were injured after a fire broke out in a chawl in Malwani, Malad West, following an explosion of accumulated gas on Tuesday morning. According to the fire brigade, the incident occured in a ground-plus-two-floored structure at around 9.25am near AC Masjid, besides Bharat Mata School. The fire was confined to the the first floor of the structure. Fire brigade officials said two families resided on the first and second floor of the structure. “Prima facie, we are told that gas from LPG cylinder had accumulated on the first floor due to leakage, and that one of the residents on the first floor tried to light the gas stove with a match stick, resulting in the explosion. The explosion led to the collapse of a portion of the second floor flooring. A woman and her two-year-old grandchild fell down and suffered injuries. All seven injured were initially moved to Aadhar Hospital and the BDBA hospital by the locals before we reached the spot,” said a fire brigade official. BMC said the seven injured were later shifted to KEM hospital. The injured include Vijay Chaudhary (48), Tausif Khan (22), Ali Kasim (18), Ruma Chaudhary (43), Alisha Chaudhary (20), two-year-old Adil Shaikh and47-year-old Julekha Shaikh. Dr Vinita Puri, head of the burns unit at KEM Hospital said the first family involves a grandmother, who is intubated with 60% burns, and her 2-year-old grandson, who sustained 17% burns affecting his face and hands. “In a child, burns exceeding 15% are considered serious. For an adult, the threshold is 20 to 25%,” said Dr Puri.The second family includes a couple and their three children. “Both parents and the eldest son are intubated. The son has 75% burns, the father has 50%, and the mother has 35%,” she said. The couple’s 20-year-old daughter is also intubated with 20% burns. The youngest, an 18-year-old, has 17-18% burns. “All have pulmonary injuries and facial involvement. Their condition is critical,” Dr Puri added.With inputs from Eshan Kalyanikar
