BANGALORE: Two people were killed and 11, including five firemen, were injured after a three-storied building collapsed following a blast due to leakage of LPG gas at an adjacent convention hall. Three houses were badly damaged in the incident that occurred at Narasimhapalya near Sumanahalli off Magadi Road around 1.30 pm on Wednesday.While one of the deceased has been identified as Kavitha (17), a student at a private college, the identity of the other, a man aged around 30 years, is yet to be established as his body, which was found during a search late at night, was burnt in the explosion. Chinmayee (4), Sharada (46), Pallavi (22), Beerappa, Ramanjanappa and Kantharaju were the injured.The injured fire personnel have been identified as fireman Govindaraju, fire station officer Raghavendra, both from Peenya fire station, firemen Nagesh, Anandaiah and Rangaswamy of Rajajinagar fire station. Among the injured, Govindaraju sustained fractures in both his legs, while Sharada was seriously injured on head and shoulder. According to the Fire Department, gas accidentally leaked from a few LPG cylinders kept in the kitchen of Sree Lakshmi Venkateshwara Convention Hall, leading to the explosion. Due to the impact, a portion of the wall was pulverised. As the firemen were still fighting fire, another explosion took place on the ground floor of the building, where a chemical factory was being run. “This resulted in another explosion and due to the impact, the three-storied building collapsed, damaging three other houses. The firemen were injured by the falling debris. Among the other injured, the women were inside the houses, while the men, who were passing by, were hit by falling cement blocks,” officials added.Around 15 fire tenders and a JCB were pressed into service following the blast and a rescue operation was launched. The firemen stuck under debris were brought out and were shifted to a hospital, while the other injured were shifted to hospitals by locals. By evening, the fire personnel found the body of Kavitha stuck deep under the debris. The operation of removing debris was going on into the night.There was still no trace of the owner of the hall. Luckily, a mobile tower installed on the convention hall did not fall. The Kamakshipalya police are contemplating booking case against the owners of the building and the chemical factory. Forensic experts were also probing the blast. Police Commissioner B G Jyothi Prakash Mirji and Police and Fire Department officials visited the spot.
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