Bangalore:
A 17-year-old girl was killed today after part of a building used as a marriage hall in Bangalore collapsed after a cooking gas cylinder exploded. Ten people were also injured in the incident.
The cylinder exploded between 1.30 and 2 this afternoon and led to a huge fire. It brought down not just the wedding hall but the three-storey building next door as well. While rescuing persons trapped within the debris, four firemen were injured as another cylinder exploded.
The police later recovered two other full cylinders at the marriage hall. Called Lakshmi-Venkateshwara, the marriage hall is located on the outskirts of the city in the Sumanahalli area, 15 kms from the city centre. A chemical factory was also found to be running illegally from the cellar of the building that housed the marriage hall.
The police suspect that some chemicals from the factory could have caused the fire.
"It is a case of negligence by the marriage hall owner. Plus the adjacent house-owner has allowed a fabric dye unit to be operated by another businessman. That is being probed," Bangalore city Police Commissioner B.G. Jyothi Prakash Mirji said.
The lone casualty, Kavita, had just returned from college when she heard the explosion. Concerned about those trapped inside, she entered the building, minutes before it collapsed.
The police, meanwhile, have registered a case against the owners of both the marriage hall as well as the factory.
The injured have been shifted to Lakshmi Nursing Home and are said to be out of danger.