At least 2 persons, including a woman, were killed and 10 others seriously injured when an LPG cylinder exploded in a private ladies' hostel at GK Enclave, Indiranagar, Gachibowli, at around 8:30am on Sunday.
According to Sub-Inspector V Narsimha Chary, the hostel watchman Ramesh (35) lost his life on the spot, while Renuka Sanghani (24) died while undergoing treatment at a hospital.
Chary said that the seriously injured have been identified as Vamsi, Anupama, Bharathi, Hasnain, Pavansree, Aadi Lakshmi, Umadevi, Indu and Jaya.
He revealed that the explosion occurred when the watchman was trying to check a leak from the cylinder. Preliminary investigations reveal that the leak may have ignited a fire, leading to the blast.
The blast itself was so powerful that the walls of 2 adjoining rooms collapsed.
The police and fire personnel rushed to the spot and shifted the victims to Image Hospital in Madhapur and Ameerpet, Vikram Hospital in Madhapur and Osmania General Hospital.
The watchman Ramesh hailed from Rajahmundry in East Godavari, and had migrated to the city to eke out a living.
Renuka Sanghani was employed with the software giant Infosys and hailed from Pune. She had just come back from Pune to the hostel 10 minutes before the cylinder exploded.
The police stated that the death toll could rise as the condition of 5 of the injured is critical.
A case has been registered, and further investigations are on.