Hyderabad: Tanker blast kills 1, 2 hurt

Hyderabad: A major fire broke out at Chengicherla after a diesel tanker blast on Friday, claiming one person’s life and injuring two, who were filming the conflagration on their mobile phones. 

The incident created havoc in the neighbouring areas also.  Seven fire tenders were pressed into service and it took one and a half hours to douse the fire, said officials from the fire brigade. 

The deceased, Venkatesh Naik, received a 60 per cent burn injury and was rushed to the Gandhi Hospital along with two other injured persons, who were identified as Swamy, 25, and Vasu, 19. Venkatesh Naik succumbed to his injuries in the hospital, officials said. 

“The incident occurred at around 1.30 pm on Friday. The tanker was parked in Chengicherla when the fire started and then the blast occurred,” said V. Shekar Reddy, Cherlapally fire officer. As soon as the fire broke out, people ran for shelter. However, bikers and passers-by stopped and started filming the inferno. 

“As soon as the call was received, one fire tender from Moula Ali was sent and later two more tenders were sent from the Cherlapally fire station. By the time the fire tenders reached the spot, the tanker exploded, killing one person and injuring two, who were shooting videos of the mishap,” said the official. 

Later, fire tenders from Malkajgiri, Musheerabad and HPCL were pressed into service and it took one and a half hours to bring the situation under control, said Mr Reddy. “We are yet to find out what the tanker was doing there and the property loss due to the fire,” added the official. 

Medipally Police has booked cases under relevant sections of IPC and started a probe.