New Delhi, Mar 16 (PTI) A two-and-a-half-year-old girl died while her elder sister fell unconscious due to suspected LPG gas poisoning after a cylinder kept in their flat leaked in east Delhi’s Ghazipur area, police said on Monday.
They said a board of doctors had been constituted to conduct the postmortem to rule out any other possibility in the case, though the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) has confirmed that the death occurred due to poisoning caused by LPG gas.
According to experts, LPG is heavier than oxygen and tends to settle near the ground, which can severely affect children. The impact can be more severe on young children because their lungs are delicate and more vulnerable to toxic exposure, they said.
The deceased girl’s third birthday was just two months away. Her father, Mohammad Rahid, a tailor by profession, had already started preparing a dress for the occasion, according to family members.
“He was very happy that his daughter would turn three years old on May 5. He was also preparing a dress for her to gift her on her third birthday. Everything all of a sudden turned into tragic,” Mohammad Mohsin, a family friend, told PTI.
The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon at a rented flat in Ashirwad Apartment in the Ghazipur area, where the child lived with her parents and elder sister. Police said they had received a PCR call at around 2.19 pm reporting a suspected chemical smell coming from the apartment.
According to police, the caller informed the police that two children had fallen unconscious inside a room where their mother was sleeping. Both children were rushed to a nearby hospital in Sector 11 in Noida.
Doctors declared the younger child “brought dead”, while her seven-year-old sister was found to be stable and was discharged after treatment, police said.
In her initial statement to the police, the mother said that the two girls were playing inside the room when they suddenly collapsed.
“She told the police that the two girls were playing together when they suddenly fell over each other and became unconscious,” the police officer said.
The father was not at home at the time of the incident and was working at his tailoring shop.
Soon after receiving the call, police teams rushed to the spot and conducted a preliminary inspection. Officials from the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) and a crime team also examined the premises as part of the inquiry.
Investigators did not immediately find any visible signs of foul play at the spot. A chemical expert from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Rohini was also called to inspect the flat to determine whether any chemical leakage or hazardous substance may have caused the incident.
“A request has been made for the postmortem to be conducted by a board of doctors so that the exact reason behind the death can be ascertained,” a senior police officer said.
According to Mohsin, several senior police officers had visited the flat soon after the incident and initially suspected an LPG leak.
“They helped us in changing the LPG cylinder, pipe and regulator. We even asked the family to shift out of the house for some time. The same smell was coming out from the house in the evening and even this morning,” he claimed.
The family has been living in the apartment on rent for the past two years, Mohsin said, adding that they are now hoping the investigation will reveal what caused the fatal incident.
The uncertainty surrounding the cause of the suspected gas leak has added to the family’s distress.
“We also want to know the exact reason behind her death. Three people will still live in the same house and if the cause was not LPG leak, it could be a life-threatening situation for the members again,” Mohsin added.
Meanwhile, the child’s mother has been left shattered by the sudden loss. According to family members, she has been repeatedly searching for her younger daughter and struggling to come to terms with the tragedy.
“She is completely broken. She keeps looking for her younger daughter every moment,” Mohsin said.
The elder child, who had also fallen unconscious during the incident, has returned home after treatment but is currently staying with relatives as she continues to recover.
The police said the child’s body is likely to be handed over to the family after the postmortem examination is completed.
The police said further investigation into the circumstances surrounding the child’s death is underway. PTI BM SSJ BM SSJ RT RT
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