Scene of the blast at Chikalakshmaiah Layout, Hosur Road, 2nd cross, opp Christ College.
Credit: DH Photos/ S K Dinesh
A 45-year-old homeless man sleeping on the footpath died in a fire accident caused by LPG leakage in southern Bengaluru on Thursday morning, police said.
As many as 12 cylinders were stocked in a small ground-floor room with no ventilation or lighting at Chikalakshmaiah Layout, off Hosur Road. Under LPG regulation laws, only two cylinders can be stored at a time.
The ground-floor room, along with that on the first floor, was rented by an eatery located next door.
At around 9.10 am, two employees arrived to take out some cylinders and transfer them to the eatery. Police suspect that LPG leaked from broken hose pipes all night, trapping it in the room.
As soon as the employees rolled up the shutters, the LPG burst out, resulting in a fire. Both employees, as well as the homeless man sleeping on the footpath, were caught in the flames.
Ravi, the homeless man, suffered grievous burns and died soon after. The employees, one of whom has been identified as Nagaraj, suffered 25 per cent burns each and were rushed to St John's Hospital. Police are in the process of shifting them to the burns ward of the state-run Victoria Hospital, an investigating officer from the Adugodi police station said.
"This is nothing but criminal negligence," the officer told DH. "The eatery stored so many cylinders illegally. The employees didn't appear to know how to safely handle them."
According to the officer, storing so many LPG cylinders in a room with no ventilation is a "ticking bomb". The situation was aggravated by the fact that all cylinders were commercial ones, meaning they each weighed 19.2 kg.
"The gas tore through the shutters because of the enormous pressure," the official added.
Police have detained the eatery owner, identified as Jagadish, for causing death by negligence under IPC Section 304A. Police investigations showed he could legally use only two commercial LPG cylinders.
LPG-related fire accidents are common in Bengaluru because of poor regulation and enforcement.
C K Baba, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast), said it was clear that the eatery owner had failed to replace the hose pipes, causing the leakage. He has been arrested, he added.
"We will soon write to the BBMP, the gas distribution companies and other agencies, asking them to issue an advisory about handling LPG cylinders," Baba told DH.