LPG cylinder blast kills 35-year-old man, elderly parents in Pune’s Wagholi

Pune: A 35-year-old private company employee and his elderly parents were killed after an LPG leak caused an explosion and triggered a fire in their Wagholi home on Friday morning.

Police identified the victims as Pandurang Gitte, his father Vishnu (80), and mother, Vrindavani (70). Pandurang’s daughter, Niharika (6), had a miraculous escape as she jumped from the balcony of their single-storey house and was caught safely by Gittes’ tenant, Tanaji Botule.

Pandurang’s wife, Rajashri, was in the bathroom when the explosion occurred and was unhurt.

Senior police inspector Sanjay Chavan of the Kharadi police station told TOI, “Pandurang and his parents were admitted to Sassoon General Hospital with 100% burns. While Pandurang died immediately after being hospitalised, his parents succumbed to their injuries in the evening.”

The Gittes stayed in the first floor of the house at Khandvenagar and had rented out the ground floor to Botule, who is also Pandurang’s friend. Pandurang was employed with a private health technology company in the city.

Botule said he was playing with his daughter in the parking area of the house on Friday morning. “Around 9.15am, I first heard the whistling sound of gas leak from the first floor. Within seconds, there was an explosion. I ran outside and saw Niharika in the balcony,” he said.

“Suspecting a disaster, I immediately told her to jump from the balcony. I caught her safely as she jumped, immediately sent her to a nearby hospital as she had sustained burns on her back. I spotted Rajashri screaming for help from the window of their bedroom. She covered herself with a shawl and came down safely,” he said.

Fire officer Pradip Sonawane of the Pune fire brigade said a fire tender each from the Kharadi, Dhanori and Yerawada fire stations and another from the PMRDA fire station were pressed into service. “Our team reached the spot and shifted the three severely injured people to the hospital,” Sonawane said.

“Pandurang was changing an empty LPG cylinder with a refilled one. We suspect the gas might have leaked during the process and the cylinder exploded,” he said, and added that the blaze damaged furniture and appliances inside the house.

Another fire officer, Dattatreya Satav, said, “We suspect that Pandurang might have brought the leaking cylinder to the living room as the damage was more extensive there than in the other rooms and kitchen. His mother was in the kitchen.”