Chembur tanker blast: Four booked for negligence after driver’s death

Police said the tanker had earlier transported methanol and should have been taken to an authorised repair facility. Instead, it was allegedly brought to a local garage where welding work was carried out without following the prescribed safety measures and standard operating procedures for tankers that had carried hazardous chemicals.

According to investigators, residual methanol vapours inside the tanker are suspected to have ignited during the welding process, triggering the explosion.

Two welders — Faiyaz Khan and his son Mohammad Arkam — sustained injuries in the blast and are undergoing treatment.

The explosion was so powerful that it shattered windowpanes of a ground-floor flat in the nearby HPCL Colony. Residents said a young girl playing near the building was left shaken by the impact of the blast.

On Friday, the Mumbai Fire Brigade, police, ambulance services and BMC officials rushed to the spot and secured the area. Police had then said they were examining whether standard safety protocols had been followed before welding was carried out on the tanker. The registration of the FIR on Saturday follows the preliminary findings of that probe.