LPG leakage reported at Mumbai's Kasturba Hospital; 58 patients evacuated

A total of 58 patients, 20 of them undergoing treatment for coronavirus, were evacuated from the Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai's Chinchpokli after an LPG leakage was reported at the civic-run facility on Saturday, 7 August 2021. 

The incident occurred around 11.34 am at building number 148 of the hospital triggering panic among the relatives of patients and the hospital staff, an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

The medical superintendent of the hospital alerted the BMC's disaster management team regarding the incident, following which fire brigade officials and technical experts from the HPCL rushed the site, the official said.

"As a part of the safety measure, the building was evacuated and the patients were moved to another building in the premises. All of them are stable, " he said

LPG Cylinder explosion kills 7 in Gujarat

A similar unfortunate incident was reported in the neighbouring state of Gujarat last month where an LPG leakage triggered fire and explosion killing seven people on the outskirts of Ahmedabad city. 

The incident took place on the night of July 20, but the victims - labourers and their family members - died over the last couple of days during treatment, said SS Gameti, sub-inspector of Aslali police station in Ahmedabad rural on Friday. Besides men, the deceased included children and women, he added.

"Some labourers working in a factory and their family members were sleeping in a small room when gas from their LPG cylinder started leaking on the night of July 20. When their neighbour knocked on their door to alert them, a labourer got up and switched on the light, which caused an explosion due to concentration of gas," Gameti said.

(With inputs from agency)