2-year-old among three dead as ruptured gas line sparks fire in Junagadh, 1 held
A two-year-old girl was among three persons killed as a fire broke out in Junagadh after a gas pipeline was ruptured by a bulldozer on Wednesday morning.
The incident took place around 10.30 am when the bulldozer, which was being used in a drainage project of the Junagadh Municipal Corporation, hit the underground Torrent Gas pipeline. Gas started leaking from the ruptured pipeline, and a fire erupted soon as there were several food stalls nearby. The blaze subsequently torched an LPG gas cylinder at one of the food stalls, leading to an explosion.
The fire soon spread to another shop, trapping three persons inside it.
The deceased were identifed as Rupa Sailesh Solanki (40), her daughter Bhakti Sailesh Solanki (2) and Haresh Rabadia (50).
The 23-year-old driver of the bulldozer, Rajeshkumar Jaimangalrai Yadav from Bihar, has been arrested. He has been booked under BNS sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) and 326(g) (mischief), Police Inspector A B Gohil said.
Acting Chief Fire Officer (CFO) of Junagadh, Yakin Shivhani, told The Indian Express that the first firefighting vehicle reached the spot at 10.32 am, followed by other teams. The fire department had also informed Torrent Gas officials about the leak, who immediately arrived and shut off the valves
Firefighters managed to rescue the three persons trapped inside the shop, which was, by then, engulfed in fire. They were rushed to GMERS civil hospital, but succumbed to their injuries, said police.
Shivhani said that the food stall of Sailesh Solanki (45), who lost his wife and daughter in the tragedy, has been completely destroyed, along with two other shops on either side of it. A nearby police chowki was also damaged. It took about 22 minutes and 25,000 litres of water to douse the fire. Even Sailesh was badly injured in the incident while attempting to save his family and friend.
The Junagadh 'B' Division police filed an FIR against the driver of the bulldozer, based on a complaint by Sailesh, who is in the ICU. The FIR stated that Sailesh was working at his stall, while his wife, daughter and friend were sitting inside. 'At about 10.30 am, the bulldozer started digging (the road) in front of the stall when it hit the gas pipeline. The pipeline started leaking and then a fire broke out and spread to the stall,' the FIR said.
The complainant also said that he had attempted to enter the shop to save his family but the blaze was so huge that passersby caught hold of him and stopped him from entering.
A statement from Torrent Gas, issued on Wednesday, said, 'In an unfortunate incident at about 10:27 AM today near RTO Booth, Zanzarda Chowkdi, Junagadh, an underground 90 mm medium-density polyethylene (MDPE) gas pipeline of Torrent Gas was inadvertently damaged, during excavation work being carried out by a JCB on behalf of the Junagadh Municipal Corporation. This caused gas to leak, which caught fire from a nearby open fire at a fast-food stall which also had LPG cylinder resulting in three fatalities and one serious burn injury. The affected pipeline section was immediately isolated by closing both upstream and downstream valves. The fire was extinguished within 25 minutes. Torrent Gas was not informed about the digging being carried out as per the Dial before Dig procedure.'
It further stated, 'We are cooperating fully with the Junagadh Municipal Corporation and all relevant authorities in a thorough investigation to determine the exact cause and sequence of events leading to this incident.'
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