KANPUR: At least 15 people including eight children, suffered burn injuries when an LPG cylinder caught fire at a house in Salempur Karowan village under Kotwali police station in Unnao district on Saturday.
"The incident took place at the house of one Manoj Sonker after a cooking LPG cylinder caught fire following a leak leaving 15 people injured on Saturday morning. On being informed several fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the blaze. The injured were immediately rushed to district hospital, where doctors stated condition of two to be critical. Most likely the two critically injured will be referred to some other hospital for better treatment," said SP Unnao Sureshrao A Kulkarni.
The family members of Sonker and several others from the neighbourhood, who tried to rescue them, suffered burn injuries and were undergoing treatment at the district hospital.
The police said that a major disaster in the area was averted as the house inmates were timely evacuated.
The police identified the injured as Manish (20), Surendra (28), Rekha (25), Agnu (35), Asha (34), Shiva (8), Shubham (7), Shubhi (6), Karan (6), Saumya (3), Saumya (2), Pallavi (5), Sarla (32), Kalpana (4) and Suresh (40).