Navi Mumbai: Fourth casualty in the Ulwe blast has been reported on Thursday morning. The sole survivor of Ghanchi Bhati family, Ramesh (42) who had sustained 98% burns succumbed to his injuries on Thursday 10.20 am.
Dr Sunil Keswani from National Burns Hospital wherein Ramesh was taken on Wednesday late night said, “He was brought with 98% deep burns with inhalation injury.” With the death of the fourth member of the family as well, it will stay as a mystery on how the fire started in the shop that led to the blast of three cylinders.
Ramesh and his wife had first set up their business in Pune after their marriage and after few years of birth of their twin- Chetan and Lakshmi- they moved to Ulwe, around seven years back and put up their shop. “They ran a general store and also sold cylinders is that I know. I am not sure if they sold petrol as its been many years that I visited them,” a relative, Kantilal Parmar, who runs a shop in Khopoli, said.
Meanwhile a local from Jawale village in Ulwe wherein the shop- Hanuman Store- was run by Ghanchi Bhati family said, “The shop had petrol as well for sale which was being sold for Rs 120 per litre.”
Ulwe police has confirmed that the casualties in this incident are due to the cylinder blast however, it is not clear about how did the fire start in the shop which is also attached to the house behind the shop.
“Ramesh was in a very bad state and not in a condition to give statement while alive and hence we could not know how the fire started. The other three died on the spot. We have not found any eye witness to the incident or any footage,” senior police inspector Arjun Rajane from Ulwe police station said.
Another officer said that it is suspected that the kids were lighting Diyas for Diwali when accidentally some inflammable material caught fire which led to the blast of the cylinders. Three cylinders- one 14 kg and two 5 kg- that were present in the shop, blasted one by one in some intervals.
In one of these blasts Dilshad Ali Sakir Ali (21), who ran chicken shop nearby, was injured while he was trying to help Ramesh. “After sustaining burns on his body, Ramesh rolled out of the shop. The owner of the shop Balkrishna Gharat and Ali who were standing outside the shop, picked up Ramesh and were attempting to put him into an autorickshaw when another blast happened and a cylinder landed on his head injuring him severely,” a police officer from Ulwe police station said. Ali is currently in ventilator at DY Patil Hospital and has sustained major skull fracture.
“When my brother informed me about the fire, I had asked him to go away from the area. I run another shop in another sector of Ulwe and by the time I reached the spot, I found by brother severly injured,” Irshad Ali, brother of injured Dilshad, said.
The fire call on Wednesday was reported at around 7.30 pm after which the fire officials reached the spot to douse the fire. They took out the bodies of Manju (40) and 14 year old twin siblings Chetan and Lakshmi. Accidental Death has been reported with Ulwe police and the further investigations are on.
