Ramban cylinder blast: 2 minor siblings succumb, toll rises to 6

RAMBAN/JAMMU: Two critically injured minor siblings succumbed to burn injuries at a hospital on Saturday, raising the death toll in a gas cylinder blast at a house in Ramban district to six.
With their death, Bishan Dass had lost his wife and five children -- four daughters and a son -- in a blast which took place at Maitra village of Ramban late Friday evening.
In a heart-wrenching incident, four members of a family---a woman and her three daughters were killed while three others had received serious burn injuries when an LPG gas cylinder caught fire at their rented house in Ramban on Friday evening.
The injured-- including two other children of the deceased woman and another relative who had come to visit the family—were referred to military hospital in Udhampur in a critical condition.
“Five-year-old Anita Devi and her one-and-half-year-old brother Jagir Chand along with their relative Pritam Singh of Blowet village were rescued from the flames and referred to Army hospital Udhampur for specialised treatment Friday night,” the officials said.
However, they said both the children succumbed to their injuries in the wee hours, while the condition of Singh, who had come to visit the family, was stated to be "serious".
The incident had taken place on Friday evening in Maitra area near District Administration Complex Ramban where the family of one Bishen Dass was living in a rented accommodation.
Dass, who had shifted to Ramban town from his Tangar village in Dharamkund-- 40 kms from the town -- and was living as a tenant in the house of one Yaseen, was not at home as he had gone to attend a marriage function.
Dass’s wife Darshana Devi (36), and her three daughters Ashu Devi (13), Santosh Devi (7) and Priyanka Devi (3) were charred to death soon after their rented accommodation caught fire following the LPG cylinder blast around 8 pm on Friday.
A cow and a calf, belonging to the family, were also killed in the blaze which reduced the house of Mohammad Yaseen to ashes.
Meanwhile the locals expressed their resentment and alleged that not a single officer from district administration reached to the spot for monitoring the situation.
They also alleged that even the fire brigade reached the spot after one hours of the incident, and the delay aggravated the injuries and led to the deaths.