5-year-old dies in LPG blast as couple keeps gas on through night

NAVI MUMBAI: A five -year-old boy, Soham Katte, died while four others were injured in a blast triggered due to leakage from a cooking gas cylinder at Kalamboli around 6.30 am on Thursday.
The injured include Soham's parents-Shubhangi (32) and Baban (40) and a couple that living in an adjacent house-Nana Jadhav (36) and Ashwini Jadhav (32). The Jadhavs and the Kattes were tenants in neighbouring rooms.

The police said that the Jadhavs had accidentally left the gas stove on throughout the night. In the morning, Ashwini ignited the stove to prepare tea which triggered the explosion, said the police. A wall that separated the houses collapsed and the debris crushed Soham. His two sisters were away at their grandparents' house.

The child and his parents were taken to MGM Hospital in Kamothe by locals, but Soham was declared 'brought dead on arrival' at the hospital.

Ashwini Jadhav, who suffered severe burn injuries, has been shifted to National Burns Centre at Airoli. She is in a "critical" condition. Registrar of the centre, Dr Prashant, said that Ashwini has sustained severe burns on the face, neck, abdomen and hips. "She has suffered more than 60% burn injuries and is therefore in a critical state and still not out of danger. She will be kept under observation for at least 48 hours," he said.

The fire brigade team from Kalamboli arrived at the incident spot four hours after the explosion. Cidco fire officer of Kalamboli station, Nanabhau Rathod, said that the Kalamboli police had not informed them about the blast sparked by leakage of cooking gas. "We learnt about it from social media and reached the spot around 11.30 am," said Rathod.

"It is surprising that nobody smelled the gas that was leaking," said Rathod. "Ashwini ran out of the house, screaming for help."

They body of Soham was taken to Satara, his ancestral village, for the final rites.

Ratna Sawant (45), mother of the landlord, who had let out the ground floor to the Jadhav couple, said, "Around 6.30 am, we were woken up by the sound of an explosion which caused the utensils in our kitchen to fall. We rushed downstairs and saw the lower floor damaged."