A 65-year-old woman died and four others were injured in an explosion caused by a gas leak in Malad on Sunday. While the woman, Manju Kalwar, was trapped under the debris of a wall that collapsed, the injured have suffered burns and cuts.
Fire brigade officials said the incident occurred around 9 a.m. in a chawl in MHB Colony in Malwani. “The room was divided by a partition wall. Kalwar lived with her daughter, Sheetal Pote (45), and grandson, Siddhesh (19), on one side. Namita Pawar (22) and Ashwini Jadhav (26) lived as paying guests on the other side,” Malad fire station officer Sanket Naik said.
He said the paying guests had left the gas knob open at night. “On Sunday morning, when one of them lit the stove, there was a blast,” Mr. Naik said. The impact caused the wall to collapse, and the debris fell on Kalwar’s side of the room.
All the injured were rushed to Kandivali’s Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Municipal General Hospital. While Ms. Pawar has suffered 60% to 80% burns on her hands, stomach and back and is in a critical condition, Ms. Jadhav has 15% burn injuries on her face and hands.
Kalwar was removed from the debris and rushed to hospital, where she was declared brought dead. Ms. Pote was injured on her lower limbs and her son, Siddhesh, suffered cuts to the right side of his head and abrasions below his right eye. Both were discharged after being treated in the emergency ward.
