Meghalaya cylinder blast, 8 Injured

Tura, Mar 21: Eight persons were injured when an LPG cylinder exploded after a fire broke out due to a short circuit in an RCC building in the heart of Tura town's Beldarpara locality in the main market area on Tuesday morning.

The incident occurred at 7:20 in the morning after fire broke out in the house following a short circuit on an immersion rod used for heating water.

The spark caused a fire to break out which quickly engulfed a set of clothes left nearby and the blaze soon spread to a gas cylinder kept nearby which exploded due to the heat of the flames.

M.G.R. Kumar, the district police chief of West Garo Hills, said the Fire and Emergency personnel of police, with the local residents' help, brought the blaze under control and facilitated swift transportation of the injured to hospital.

One of the victims, Nitish Ghosh, 18, sustained grievous burn injuries on his back and neck and had to be rushed to Guwahati for advanced medical treatment.