Incident took place in a room next to auditorium that is rented out for events; fire brigade to check if permission was taken to hold external programmes
The blast took place in a room next to the auditorium on the second floor of Chhabildas School in Dadar East on Wednesday morning. Pic/Atul Kamble
Three people were injured in a cylinder blast at Chhabildas School in Dadar East on Wednesday morning. The blast took place in a room next to an auditorium on the second floor of the school building around 5 am. The Mumbai Fire Brigade, which seized nine cylinders from the spot, has decided to inspect all schools in the city to see if they are abiding by the permissions. Meanwhile, the BMC has ordered the school administration to start repair works at the earliest.
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Nitin Barve, who lives in a nearby building, said, “There was a sudden loud noise early in the morning. It was intense that windowpanes shattered. We then saw that flames had erupted on the second floor of the school building. We also noticed a crack in the wall.”
According to the fire brigade report, locals doused the fire and took the three injured people to the civic-run Lokmanya Tilak Hospital in Sion. They have been identified as Bharat Madhu Singh, 26; Javed Ali, 38; and Gopal Sahu, 50. All of them are stable. The trio was employed by a catering group which looks after catering needs for events held at the auditorium.
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The school’s authorities said the room was used by a catering agency to store their things
Shailendra Salvi, chairman of General Education Institute—the trust that runs the school, said, “We rent out the auditorium on the second floor for various events. The room where the blast took place was used by the caterers to store their stuff.” He added, “We had submitted all related documents [to rent out the space] to the civic body and fire officials and took permission.”
“The BMC has instructed us to repair the school. Accordingly, the area where the fire broke out is being demolished. Our structural engineer will inspect it and then repairs will be carried out,” Salvi said. Chief Fire Officer Sanjay Manjrekar said, “Our team visited the spot and conducted an inquiry. We have seized nine cylinders from the building. The report will be released soon.”
Fire officials said they suspect the blast could have taken place because of leakage in the cylinder or short circuit in the refrigerator. “As per the fire safety norms, schools need to take permission from the fire brigade for organising programmes. We will check whether this school has taken permission or not. Also, we will inspect other schools in the city,” Manjrekar added.
9
No. of cylinders seized from the spot
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