LPG leakage triggers blast in dhaba

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, May 29

A blast in Tang village, about 8 km from Dharamsala, damaged two shops and a house today. It occurred in a dhaba around 3.30 am.

The impact of the blast was so powerful that the iron shutter of the dhaba was torn into pieces, walls collapsed and the roof caved in. The splinters of iron shutter created a whole in the wall of a kucha house located on other side of the road and damaged houses located about 100 feet from the dhaba.

The panicked villagers rushed out of their houses. Since the blast occurred in the early morning hours, no loss of life was reported.

The police and forensic experts also reached the spot and collected evidence. Interestingly, LPG cylinders lying inthe dhaba were not damaged but refrigerator was destroyed.

ASP Kangra Shiv Kumar said a case had been registered and investigation into the reasons of the blast was still going on.

Public information officer in the state forensic laboratory at Dharamsala Dr Paul said primarily the blast seemed to have been caused following the leakage in the LPG cylinder lying in the shop. He said there was no ventilation in the shop. It was being presumed that the LPG gas leaked from the cylinder and created a pressure inside the closed building triggering a blast.

Since there was no crater in the shop and no signs of fire, the LPG leakage seemed to be the only reason for the blast.