Toll in Hoshiarpur LPG tanker fire reaches 7 as 4 more succumb to burns

Four more people succumbed to burns, with the death toll in the LPG tanker fire incident rising to seven, an official said on Sunday.

Hoshiarpur Deputy Commissioner Aashika Jain said Manjit Singh, 60, Vijay, 17, Jaswinder Kaur, 65, and Aradhna Verma, 30, all residents of Mandiala, died at a private hospital overnight.

Civil Surgeon Dr Pawan Kumar said the four, who had sustained more than 90 per cent burns, were on ventilator support.

On Friday, around 10 pm, an LPG tanker caught fire after colliding with a pickup vehicle near Mandiala Adda on the Hoshiarpur-Jalandhar road.

The blaze spread rapidly, engulfing nearly 15 shops and at least four houses in the vicinity, police said.

Two people died in the immediate wake of the incident, while 21 others sustained injuries. One more succumbed to burns on Saturday.

According to the police FIR, the tanker was turning towards the Ram Nagar Dheha link road when it collided with the vegetable-laden pickup. Both vehicles caught fire.

Dr Pawan Kumar said that immediately after the incident, one person was brought dead to the government hospital, Hoshiarpur, while another succumbed to burns at a private hospital.

The third died on the way to the Government Medical College, Amritsar.

On Saturday morning, hundreds of residents of Mandiala and adjoining villages blocked traffic on the Hoshiarpur-Jalandhar road for over three hours, demanding compensation and action against those responsible.

Deputy Commissioner Jain assured the protesters that the injured were being provided free treatment under the Punjab government's Farishta Scheme.

Political leaders cutting across party lines, including many Punjab ministers and MPs, have visited the injured at hospitals.

On Saturday, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced Rs 2 lakh each for the kin of the deceased and free medical treatment of the injured.