By Sinjini Mitra
Ten staff members of a local restaurant, Hotel Jagdamba, were injured, five of them are in critical condition. The accident which took place because of a cooking gas cylinder exploded in the kitchen of a hotel in Daund taluka of Pune district on Wednesday afternoon, police officials said.
The explosion took place around 1 pm at Hotel Jagdamba, situated on the Daund–Patas Road, nearly 75 km from Pune city. Authorities confirmed that there were no customers present at the time of the incident, avoiding a larger tragedy.
All the injured were workers in or near the kitchen when the blast took place. According to the Pune Rural police, most of the victims are migrant workers. They suffered varying degrees of burn injuries due to the explosion which was followed by the fire.
The prior blast triggered a fire in the kitchen, which was later brought under control by the Daund Municipal Council fire brigade. According to the officials the explosion has caused extensive damage to the hotel’s structure, including the roof, windows, furniture, and kitchen equipment.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Baburao Dadas stated that according to the preliminary observations one of the multiple cooking gas cylinders which was installed in the kitchen exploded. “Ten staffers were injured in the incident. Five of them have sustained critical burn injuries affecting vital organs and have been admitted to Sassoon General Hospital in Pune, while the remaining injured are being treated at hospitals in Daund,” Dadas said.
He added that the exact cause of the explosion is yet to be found. “We will seek reports from forensic experts and the fire brigade. Based on these findings, further investigation will be conducted. We will also examine whether all mandatory safety precautions were followed in the kitchen,”. Police have initiated an investigation and further action will be taken based on the findings of the inquiry.