30 April,2024 05:25 PM IST | Mumbai | Diwakar Sharma
The civic officials rushed to the spot to control the blaze. Pic/Hanif Patel
Atleast four people were injured after a massive fire broke out on Tuesday at a hotel in Nalasopara area of Palghar district in Maharashtra, the officials said.
According to the officials, a hydraulic machine being operated by the civic body accidentally uprooted a gas pipeline while widening a drain on Tuesday afternoon. The gas leakage engulfed the Dwarka Hotel on Achole Road, injuring four people.
The injured have been identified as Sundar B. Shetty (62), Gopal S. Bangera (70), Chandra Magarkar (45) and Raja Kumar Shah (27). All the injured have been rushed to a nearby hospital with serious burn injuries, an official said.
The condition of 70-year-old Bangera is critical, said a source at the hospital.
The fire, followed by terrific blast-like sounds, triggered panic among the local passersby.
The hotel runs on the ground floor whereas there are flats on the first floor.
Considering the sensitivity of the issue, the VVCMC officials immediately swung into action and multiple fire engines were pressed into service to douse the inferno.
Local sources said that the VVCMC officials have been recklessly been digging out roads, widening drains without following the guidelines, as âthe private contractors violate all the rules and regulations because the civic babus remain absent from the spot where such developmental work takes place in Vasai taluka,' said a source.
It is not immediately known if any FIR is registered or not.
