Over three dozen injured in Unnao LPG fire

KANPUR: More than three dozen people were injured when a LPG cylinder exploded in a house in Dostinagar area of Unnao district on Thursday evening. The situation was aggravated as the owner of the house had illegally stocked petrol for selling in illegal market, officials claimed.
The injured were rushed to the Unnao district hospital besides hospitals in Kanpur and Lucknow where the condition of some of them is reported to be serious.Police and fire brigade personnel have rushed to the spot and the fire has been controlled, the police said.
Unnao DM Saumya Agarwal told TOI that "the LPG blast took place in the Dostinagar house of one Pramod Gupta on Thursday evening and soon engulfed the entire building as gallons of illegally stocked too caught fire. Several fire tenders were pressed into service and the situation was brought under control after three hours of continuous effort".
Police said the explosion took place when someone in Gupta's house was preparing tea on LPG stove in the kitchen and leaking gas caught fire. The sequence of events would be clear after the statement of the injured are recorded.
The blst and the fire were so powerful that the house was totally burned down and the ceiling of the house was ripped apart. Unnao SP Ratan Kumar said forensic experts would inspect the spot to find out any if there was any foul play. "We are investigating the matter and cannot say anything conclusive as of now," he added.