Three, including two kids died while one person has received severe injuries after blast of three cylinders that were kept in a general store- Hanuman Stores-of sector 17 in Ulwe. The deceased have been identified as Manju Ghanchi (Bhati) (40) and her children Chetan (13) and Lakshmi (14). Husband of Manju, identified as Ramesh (42), has received severe burn injuries and has been shifted to MGM, Kamothe hospital.
“We received a call at 9 pm and we reached the spot. The cause of fire could be ascertained only after investigations,” CIDCO Fire officer Vijay Rane said. According to police, there was fire as well as blast.
“We are yet to ascertain if the fire happened first and then the blast took place or vice versa. The casualties have happened due to the blast. A total of three cylinders including a 14 kg cylinder and two 5 kg cylinders were in the shop that blasted,” Assistant Commissioner of Police (Port) Vishal Nehul said. The police are also ascertaining if there were any petrol barrels present in the shop.
“The family of four ran the general store and stayed behind the shop. Both the shop and the house were gutted in fire,” ACP Nehul said. The nearby residents who were regular at the shop said that the family used to sell petrol and gas cylinder in black. “Ulwe has no petrol pumps and hence there are many who sell Petrol in black in the node. This store was one of them. They used to sell petrol at Rs 120 per litre,” one of the residents from the area said.
In one of the videos of the fire, it is seen that the shop was gutted in fire when suddenly a blast happened inside. As per the video, it is suspected that shop caught fire first and then the blast happened.
