Hyderabad: Minutes before minister K.T. Rama Rao’s roadshow at Uppal, hydrogen balloons carried by TRS workers exploded in the crowd, leaving six persons with burns.
They were rushed to a nearby private hospital for treatment, Rachakonda police official said. The use of hydrogen, which is inflammable, in such balloons, is dangerous. The gas to be used is helium, which is stable and non-combustible.
The incident took place near the Uppal Metro Rail station when hundreds of TRS supporters gathered to attend Mr Rama Rao’s roadshow. They were carrying hundreds of pink helium-filled balloons and party flags waiting for the minister’s arrival. At 3.58 pm, a party worker identified as Raghupathi Reddy released some balloons into the air. These exploded in a ball of flame that lasted less than a second.
Police personnel immediately shifted the injured persons to Siva Sai Hospital for treatment. All the injured were residents of Uppal, Ramanthapur and Medipally. Four of them were identified as Reguri Vinay, K. Badrinath, Nikhil, Sandeep, a minor boy and an old man were also injured.
Mr Vinay, 19, who works at Kamineni Hospital canteen, lodged a complaint with the Uppal police station who registered a case against Mr Raghupathi Reddy, the party worker who released the balloon.
Mr Shekhar, who witnessed the explosion, said “It lasted for just for a second. There was fire with a sound.”
An Uppal police officer said that based on Mr Vinay’s complaint, a case was registered against Raghupathi Reddy under IPC Sections 188 (disobedience to order promulgated by a public servant) and 337 (causing hurt).
A similar explosion had taken place during Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s rally at Jabalpur on October 8.
