Surat: Four persons, including a woman and her two minor children, sustained severe burn injuries in a flash fire suspected to have been caused by a gas leak in Dindoli on Wednesday evening. All four are stated to be in critical condition.The incident took place around 7pm at Nilkanth Society. The injured were identified as Asha Kapar (31), her seven-year-old daughter, her three-year-old son, and their neighbour, Pavan Khatik. While Asha and her children are undergoing treatment at SMIMER Hospital, Khatik has been admitted to a private hospital.Asha’s husband, Vikram, alleged that Khatik was involved in illegal gas refilling activities from a rented room adjacent to their house and that a leak from there triggered the fire while his family was sitting outside.Police, however, refuted the claim, stating that preliminary investigation points to a different sequence of events. According to officials, Asha had called Khatik, who undertakes gas stove repair work, after her stove malfunctioned while she was cooking. The flash fire reportedly occurred during the inspection, following a suspected gas leak.Vikram and the couple’s two other daughters were not at home at the time of the incident and escaped unhurt.Police said the exact cause of the fire is yet to be established. A team from the Forensic Science Laboratory has collected samples, and statements of the victims are being recorded to ascertain the sequence of events.
