2 minor boys among 11 dead in Ludhiana gas leak tragedy: Police

Two minor boys, aged 10 and 13, were among eleven people killed in a gas leak incident in Giaspura area of Punjab’s Ludhiana district on Sunday, officials said.

A senior official said that five females and six males, including two boys aged 10 and 13, are among the eleven people who have been confirmed dead in the gas leak incident in Ludhiana’s Giaspura.

The official said that four more people affected by the gas leak, have been hospitalized and undergoing treatment.

According to the police, the source of the leakage as well as what type of gas got leaked, is yet to be ascertained and the affected area has been sealed off.

They said that fire fighters and emergency medical response teams, along with an ambulance and a fire truck, have been deployed in the area and a 50-member team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has also reached the site.

Reports quoting NDRF officials said that the disaster response sleuths are trying to ascertain what type of gas was leaked which led to the death of 11 people.

In a statement, Ludhiana District Administration, said that the densely-populated area has been evacuated on priority basis while the NDRF team is probing the type and source of the gas.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Sub Divisional Magistrate, Ludhiana, Swati Tiwana, confirmed that it was indeed a gas leak and the NDRF team was called in to assist in the evacuation and rescue operations.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, in a tweet, expressed his grief over the deaths in the incident and assured all possible help to the afflicted.

In a condolence message posted in Punjab on his official twitter handle, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said the incident was very painful.

CM Mann said that teams of Punjab Police, Ludhiana district administration and NDRF are present at the spot and all possible help is being provided.