Hazaribag: A team headed by state food and civil supplies department joint secretary Shantanu Agrahari visited Hazaribag on Wednesday to meet the affected families after reports of kerosene explosion surfaced from a few homes in the district. According to reports, at least two people have died and more than a dozen got injured in the last few days. Meanwhile, the Hazaribag district administration has stopped the sale of kerosene oil from public distribution shops (PDS).
Kerosene blasts were reported from Sarauni, Khurd, Dumar, Chutiaro, Amnari and Silwar villagers under the Sadar block. A two-year-old girl was among the dead. Kedar Ram, the father of the girl, said: “On the evening of February 14, my wife lighted a dibri after pouring kerosene in it but it soon blew up. Both my wife and daughter sustained severe burn injuries. We got the kerosene from a PDS shop here last month.” Ram’s wife and daughter were first taken to the Hazaribag Medical College and Hospital (HMCH), from where the child was referred to Rims. She later succumbed to her injuries.
Another woman, Devanti Devi from Dumar village, died on February 15 at HMCH, a week after being admitted there for treatment of burn injuries sustained during a similar mishap.
Officials said that the kerosene supplied through PDS shops could be adulterated. Deputy commissioner Aditya Kumar Anand said, “Samples of the oil have been taken from affected areas and sent to a lab in Ranchi for further investigation.”
Hazaribag SDO (Sadar) Vidya Bhushan Kumar said the victims would be provided compensation as per government provisions.
The district administration released a communique later in the evening stating that it has seized a tanker which supplied the consignment to the affected villages. “We have seized the tanker and want to appeal to everyone to not use kerosene supplied through it,” the communique read.