Chennai, Nov 15 (UNI) Three people--two women and

an eight-year-old boy--were killed and four others were

seriously injured in a wall collapse after an leaking LPG

cylinder exploded at Arni town in Tiruvannamalai district

of Tamil Nadu on Sunday.

Police sources said the deceased were identified as

Kamakshi, her son Hemanth and Chandrammal.

Police said the LPG cylinder exploded at the house

of one Mukhta Bai, who was living with her daughter

Meera (15).

She has rented out a portion of her house to a family

comprising Janakiraman (40), his wife Kamakshi (38)

and their sons Suresh (15) and Hemanth.

Mukhta Bai, unaware of the gas leak and without opening

the kitchen windows, which were closed due to heavy rains

last night, lit the stove resulting in the explosion.

The impact of the blast was such that the house and the

one adjacent to the ill-fated one, were completely damaged

and the walls collapsed.

While one portion of the wall collapsed and fell on the

portion where Janakiraman and his family were fast asleep,

another side of the wall collapsed and fell on the house of

Mukhta Bai's neighbour Chandramamal, who was also in

deep slumber.

While Kamakshi, Hemanth and Chandrammal died,

Mukthabai and Meera suffered 90 per cent and 50

per cent burn injuries respectively.

Janakiraman also sustained injuries and his son Suresh

suffered a fracture, police said.

Locals woke up to the deafening sound of the explosion

and alerted the fire services, who rushed to the spot and

carried out relief operations.

While two of them died on the spot, one died at the Arni

Government hospital, where the four injured were admitted

to treatment.

Two of the injured were critical and were shifted to Vellore

Medical College hospital for advanced treatment.

District Collector K S Kandasamy, who visited the spot along

with District Superintendent of Police S Aravind, said a report

was sent to the government about the incident.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami condoled

the deaths and announced a solatium of Rs two lakh each to

the deceased family members.

In a statement here, he also announced Rs one lakh each to

those who sustained serious injuries and Rs 50,000 to those

who suffered simple injuries from the Chief Minister's Public

Relief Fund.

While wishing the injured a speedy recovery, He also appealed

to the people to take utmost caution while using the LPG gas

cylinder.

UNI GV 1440