10-year-old boy dead, 9 injured in blast caused by gas leak in Bengaluru

A 10-year-old boy was killed and at least nine injured in a blast suspected to be caused by gas leak at a house at Adugodi in south-eastern Bengaluru on Friday morning, August 15.

The deceased was identified as Mubarak, a Class 4 student. His eight-year-old sister, Fathima, who is being treated in a hospital, is seriously injured.

The incident occurred around 8.20 a.m. in a small house within a tightly packed settlement occupied by Kasturamma and her family at Chinnayyanapalya.

The police received a call about the blast at 8.23 a.m., and the fire services was alerted two minutes later. Two fire tenders were dispatched immediately, according to the police.

At least 17 houses, each measuring about 10 ft X 10 ft, were damaged owing to the impact of the explosion, with three of them completely destroyed. The blast’s intensity shattered windows and doors of several neighbouring houses outside the cluster.

A senior police officer said that most of the injuries to the victims, except for Kasturamma, who sustained burns, were caused by collapsing walls. Kasturamma’s eight-year-old son is critical, according to doctors. The boy who died was found buried under a pile of debris.

The absence of flames at the site and the mounting debris at the blast location sparked rumours of a “mysterious blast”. Even senior police officers present at the scene initially offered no clarity on the nature of the explosion.

However, by evening, after the debris was cleared, police preliminarily ruled out any possibility of an “explosive” device.

Bengaluru city Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh told The Hindu that primary evidence from the spot indicated that a gas leak had caused the blast. The exact trigger for the explosion, however, remains to be determined.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah visited the site and later announced that the government would cover the medical expenses of all the injured. He also announced compensation of ₹5 lakh for Mubarak’s family.

M. Maheshwar Rao, chief of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), said that at least 65 people had been living in the 17 affected houses. Sixty residents would be relocated to Jain Bhavan, and restoration work in the area would begin soon.