Three killed as gas-driven vehicle blows up

RANCHI - Three people were killed and seven injured Monday when a vehicle, running on a cooking gas cylinder, blew up in Jharkhand’s Giridih district, police said.

“Three people died and seven were injured when an illegal LPG (cooking gas)-driven Maruti van caught fire after the blast near Sewabandh village Monday. Two people died on the spot and one died during course of treatment,” a Giridih police official told IANS.

The injured have been admitted to a local hospital where the condition of three is said to be serious.

According to police, the gas cylinder was leaking and it exploded when a passenger tried to light a cigarette.

The local villagers rescued the injured passengers and rushed them to a local hospital.

Giridih is around 170 km from Ranchi.