MUMBAI, February 16: When Devyani Mandalya went to sleep, she had a happy family of four. She woke up at dawn as the sole survivor of her household which had been reduced to rubble by a gas explosion in her neighbour's kitchen.Her husband Paresh Mandalya (50), mother in-law Yashumati Mandalya (75) and her 10-month-old infant son Karan had choked to death under the avalanche of debris that buried them.Four houses of the Ram Krishna Mistry chawl at Kandivli (east) were flattened by the blast from a leaking gas cylinder which injured 14 other persons at 5.30 am Monday morning. Roofs and walls of six other houses were blown off in the blast triggered off by a neighbour lighting a match in her kitchen.``When my eyes opened on hearing the noise of the collapse, I saw a huge stone lying on my shoulder,'' mumbled a benumbed Devyani (35), lying on a hospital bed with a shattered shoulder. This is all she remembers of the accident before falling unconscious and being rushed to the Bhagwati hospital.Hospitalsources clarified that the Mandalya family died due to suffocation and not due to the injuries. ``After the collapse, the family members choked on the dust,'' said a doctor at the hospital. ``The blast was triggered when a housewife Daksha Vyas lit a match, devastating near-by houses in the chawl,'' informed Deputy police commissioner Zone-10, Dr K Venkatesham, refuting rumours that the collapse was due to a bomb blast. Daksha received 60 per cent burns and is battling for life at the Suvarna hospital. Two other persons from her family too were hurt. All the injured have been admitted to Bhagwati Hospital, Borivli, while three of them who received serious burn injuries were later shifted to Suvarna Hospital.Residents denied that the chawls were weakly built and said that their houses were constructed around 25 years ago, with mezzanine floors being added six years ago. ``I woke up with my family after hearing a crashing sound and immediately started pulling people out of the debris,'' said Ravi Desai, alocal resident.Police said that they are awaiting a report from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the fire brigade.
