Cylinder blast near Mysuru Palace: NIA team to visit explosion site as death toll rises to three

The condition of two persons among six injured continues to be critical. Four injured are being treated at K R Hospital and one person is being treated at a private hospital in Mysuru.

Mysuru: Death toll rised to three, related to the blast of a gas cylinder used to fill balloons by a balloon vendor on a footpath near Jayamarthanda gate of Mysuru Palace on Thursday night.

29 year old, Nanjangud based flower vendor, Manjula; 49 year old, Bengaluru based tourist Lakshmi who were injured in the incident while walking on footpath died at K R Hospital on Friday.

Not Helium

Meanwhile city police have found that it was not helium gas in the cylinder. Balloon vendor Saleem (40) who died on spot in the incident, used a mixture of Sodium Hydroxide (caustic soda) and water, to prepare it on his own, Mysuru district in-charge minister H C Mahadevappa said.

City Police have intensified the probe. They are checking the antecedents of Saleem. He had reportedly came to city from (Tofia village, Kannauj district) Uttar Pradesh 15 days ago and stayed in a lodge in Lashkar Mohalla in Mysuru. They are reportedly questioning two others who were with Saleem. Meanwhile, a team of NIA is said to be taking information of the incident from city Police. Visit of NIA to the city is not confirmed.

Injured

The condition of one among five other injured continues to be critical. Four injured are treated at K R Hospital and one person is treated at a private hospital in Mysuru.

Mysuru district in-charge minister H C Mahadevappa visited the injured along with Mysuru DC G Lakshmikanth Reddy and Police Commissioner Seema Latkar at K R Hospital on Friday and said that the government will bear their treatment expenses.

He said, "It is an unexpected, unfortunate, incidental accident. Saleem was a seasonal business man. He did not use Helium. Helium is more explosive. If it would have been helium, the explosion would have been more dangerous. He was just an ordinary seasonal business man. Others who stayed with him in the city lodge are his family members."

Regarding the NIA taking information on the incident, he said, "When such incidents occur, it is a normal process for the NIA to be cautious and collect information from city Police as Mysuru is a major tourist destination. City Police are providing all the information" he said.

Mahadevappa said that four injured are recovering. Kolkata based Shahina Shaber, 54 (injured in right leg and thigh), Renebennur based Kotresh Beerappa Gutter 34 (injured in legs and left hand), his cousin Vedashree (minor injury in head) are treated at K R hospital. Ranjitha Vinod, 30 (injured in neck) sister in law of Lakshmi is treated at a private hospital.

Devaraja police have filed an FIR against the deceased balloon vendor Saleem, based on the complaint by the injured Kotresh.

It is said that, there were five people with Saleem.

Mysore Kodagu MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, Nanjangud MLA Darshan Dhruvanarayana also visited the injured.