Baby killed, 15 injured in gas cylinder blast in Vizag

Visakhapatnam: A two-month-old baby was killed and 15 others were injured when a gas cylinder went off in a blast on the congested Rangireeju street in the old city area here on Tuesday. The incident happened in the house of K Satyanaryana.

According to police, Satyanarayana’s wife sought the help of a neighbour to fix the leak of gas from the cylinder. While the neighbour was trying to repair it, it went off with a deafening sound. It was suspected that the gas leaked could have come in contact with an electricity device, leading to explosion.

The cylinder had been leaking for the last three days. It went up in a blast when someone meddled with it, the police said. Four members of the family were severely injured. The blast resulted in minor damage to neighbouring houses also.

Satayanarayana, who is a barber by profession, had been living in the small house with wife Varalakshmi and two sons Narsinga Rao and Jayaram, besides daughter-in-law Bujji and two grandchildren Chandini and Pujitha. Satyanarayana and his sons went to a temple when the blast occurred.

The baby, daughter of neighbours Vaddadi Devi and Prasanna Kumar, was born on October 12, the day when the Hudhud ripped through the city. Neighbours and locals called her Hudhud baby. The chubby baby was proposed to be named as Varshita on December 12 on the day she would be three-months. The blast resulted in a piece of concrete falling on baby’s face killing her instantly.