
One person died and at least four were injured after two houses collapsed following a gas pipeline explosion at an upscale residential society at Kalol in Gandhinagar on Tuesday morning. The residential society, Garden City Bungalows Society, is near Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) field in Kalol.
According to the police, the incident occurred around 9:30 am. “A massive blast occurred in a gas pipeline at Garden City Society in Panchvati of Kalol Taluka in Gandhinagar. Two houses collapsed trapping people in the rubble. Fire safety officials pulled out those trapped, one of them was declared brought dead at the hospital later. Police have yet not declared the name of the gas pipeline’s company.
“Till now we have one deceased and at least three to four injured. The injured have been taken to Civil Hospital for emergency treatment. The exact reason for the pipeline blast is not known and we are investigating the matter. Teams of ONGC and FSL have visited the spot,” said a senior police official in Gandhinagar.
An official statement from the ONGC stated: “An unfortunate gas leakage took place around 0930 hours today in a gas pipeline in a residential area near ONGC’s Kalol field.
“As a responsible corporate citizen, ONGC Ahmedabad Asset is in touch with the state government machinery for fire and safety support. ONGC fire tenders have rushed to the spot and ONGC, Crisis Management Team have been instructed to be on standby for any kind of exigency and support.”