Boy dies as coffee machine explodes

11-yr-old was attending uncle's wedding

In a freak incident, a 11-year-old boy died when a coffee making machine exploded during his uncle’s wedding ceremony in east Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar on Wednesday.

A case has been filed against the contractor, but no arrest have been made so far.

Harsh Kumar, a class 5 student, lived with family at Kachcha Bazaar in Haryana’s Ambala Cantonment. “He was in the capital to attend the wedding ceremony,” a police officer said.

On Wednesday, Harsh’s family went to Chand Mohalla in Gandhi Nagar to attend the function. “While the dinner was being served, there was an explosion in a coffee-making machine kept at the venue,” a police officer said.

The explosion led to a stampede-like situation in which Harsh was injured. He had sustained several fractures and critical burns. In the following hours, Harsh was taken to at least three hospitals -- Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital and Max Saket. The boy, however, succumbed to his injuries late on Wednesday.

Harsh’s body was handed over to family after post-mortem on Thursday. He is survived by father Sunil Kumar, mother Sashi Devi and sister Nisha.

It is alleged that the contractor and his employees fled from the spot following the
incident. After initial police probe, police said the machine had been completely destroyed after a cylinder behind the machine blew up.

Eyewitnesses said that it went off like a bomb. The venue was evacuated after the incident, and remained closed. “We were sent out to deal with the explosion, but as there was no fire we administered first aid,” a fire official said.

A case under section 304A (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered with Gandhi Nagar police station.