Four children were injured and at least five houses as well as vehicles were damaged on Tuesday night following a blast on a site where Bescom workers had allegedly taken up work next to a GAIL gas pipeline in Muneshwara Layout.
Ten-year-old Gagana was thrown several metres away, and sustained minor injuries. The others, Rohan, 12, Induja, 3, and Hariharan, 1, suffered minor injuries.
The police said that timely action by one of the residents, Srinivas, an electrician by profession, averted a tragedy. He became aware of a strange smell emanating from the bathroom and immediately vacated the house with his daughter and wife, while alerting their neighbours.
“But four children who were playing in the locality were injured,” police authorities said.
The police are yet to ascertain the exact reason for the explosion.
“Bescom authorities were also digging the place where GAIL pipelines were laid, which may have caused the damage,” said a police officer.
An FIR has been registered against GAIL as well as Bescom.
In the past six months, the GAIL city pipeline network has been damaged at least five times by various agencies or private companies while digging roads. The pipelines are laid one metre below the ground.