A gas leak from a cylinder pipe caused a flare-up at Hostel No. 6 on the IIT-Bombay campus in Powai on Thursday night, injuring five people, including two children aged nine and 12, according to information provided by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). All five were reported to be in stable condition after being taken to hospitals for treatment.
The incident was reported at around 10.24 p.m., following which the injured were taken to Rajawadi Hospital. Four of them were later transferred to Kasturba Hospital, while one remained admitted at Rajawadi, hospital authorities said.
The injured were identified as Ansh Ahirwar, 12, Tahjib Aalam, 9, Ishwar Singh, 37, Shivkumar Singh, 34, and Anilkumar Yadav, 23. Ahirwar, Aalam, Shivkumar Singh and Yadav were transferred to Kasturba Hospital. Ishwar Singh continued to receive treatment at Rajawadi Hospital.
The flare-up occurred after gas leaked from a pipe connected to a cylinder at the hostel, according to the information available from the civic authorities. The exact circumstances that led to the leakage were not immediately known. The nature and severity of the injuries were also not immediately available beyond the hospitals’ report that all five patients were stable.
Police personnel and BMC ward staff were mobilised after the incident. Their deployment brought both law-enforcement and civic teams to the campus as the injured were moved for treatment. The available information does not indicate whether the affected hostel area was evacuated or whether any wider disruption occurred on the IIT-Bombay campus.
The incident places attention on the safety of gas installations in large residential campuses, where hostels, staff housing and common facilities operate within closely occupied buildings. However, the available account does not establish whether the leakage resulted from a faulty pipe, a cylinder connection, maintenance failure or another cause. Any assessment of responsibility will depend on the findings of the authorities examining the incident.
IIT-Bombay, the police and civic authorities had not, at the time of the report, released further details on the investigation or on the safety status of Hostel No. 6. The immediate confirmed development was that five people had been hospitalised and were in stable condition, with four receiving treatment at Kasturba Hospital and one at Rajawadi Hospital.
