3 children die in LPG cylinder blast at Bhavnagar

Three children,all below 10 years of age,were charred to death after an LPG cylinder exploded at their residence in the Juniwanekwadi area of Bhavnagar on Monday. Preliminary investigation suggested that gas leak led to the explosion and the consequent fire.

The deceased have been identified as Jignesh (10),Dhruvit (3) and Pinkal (1.5). The Bhvanagar police said that none of the parents were present at home when the incident occurred. Their father Laxman Rathod,a milk trader,had left for Vadodara,while mother had gone to drop their fourth child,Krishna (7),to school. Rathod’s mother was at home,but she had a miraculous escape.

All three children were asleep on the top floor of the two-storey house when the cylinder exploded around 7.45 am at the ground floor,the police said. They added that there were two cylinders in the house and the leakage was reported from the one which was not in use. Rathod’s wife had reportedly left a burner on. “Report of the forensic science laboratory is awaited,” said a Bhavnagar police officer. The post-mortem reports are also awaited,he added.