Of broken hearts and a shattered future after cylinder blast

Bengaluru:  The cylinder blast in Wilson Garden on Friday morning displaced residents of 16 houses, injured nine, and claimed the life of eight-year-old Mubarak. The blast ripped through Chinnayyanapalya, a tightly-packed working-class neighborhood, devastating homes and families.

When DH visited the spot on Saturday, residents were still picking the pieces of the previous day’s tragedy. They not only lost their homes, but valuables as well. A bleak future stared at them, they said in unison.  

“It happened between 7.40 am and 8 am,” said Mary, a resident and close friend of Kasthuri, who had bought the cylinder.

Mary recalled attempting to wake up Kasthuri earlier that morning, but leaving minutes before the explosion as she had to attend some work.

“We did not realise in which house the cylinder blast happened,” Mary added, recounting that many people ran out, only to see their houses crumble in front of them. 

Daniel, Mary’s son, helped rescue Kasthuri and her daughter Kayal, who were both found charred under debris.

“I saw her hand sticking out from beneath a slab,” he said, recounting how he, half asleep, pulled the mother and daughter out of the debris with the help of other residents.

Mubarak’s house stood next to Kasthuri’s. “If his mother had not come outside two minutes earlier, we would have lost her too,” a neighbour said.

Rani, another resident, wept as she pointed to the rubble of her ancestral home.

“I have no valuables left, only memories of that house,” she said, adding that most of the damages were caused to the houses that had asbestos sheet roofs.

“If only my house had a concretroof...,” she said.

Aiyappa, Kasthuri’s husband, had left earlier in the day to his hometown on some work, returning late in the evening.

“They did not let me see my family because they are in the burns ward, but I am praying for their recovery,” he said.

With help from the State Disaster Response Force and local residents, families are salvaging their belongings.

Since the houses were built close to each other, 25 houses were damaged, 16 severely.

R Muniyal, president of the residents’ association, said Minister Ramalinga Reddy had promised to help rebuild homes.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has also announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the family of the deceased and Rs two lakh for those severely injured. 

Displaced families have been moved to a BBMP school nearby, where food, water and medical care are being provided.

Among the injured is Sarasamma, 60, who lived behind the blast site. She suffered a crush injury and underwent a right-arm amputation at Sanjay Gandhi Institute of Trauma and Orthopaedics. Her nephew visited her after coming to know about the incident.