Two Ayyappa devotees who sustained burns in cylinder blast succumb to injuries in Hubballi

HUBBALLI: Two of the nine ‘Ayyappa Maladharis’ (devotees), who were injured in a fire incident in Hubbali on December 23, succumbed to their injuries at the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) here on Thurday morning, officials said.

The nine Ayyappa devotees had sustained burn injuries in the fire incident that occurred reportedly due to a gas leak from a LPG cylinder. The remaining seven continue to remain under treatment at the KIMS hospital.

Grieving family members at the hospital on Thursday morning.

Home Minister G Parameshwara had on Wednesday visited the hospital and enquired about the condition of the devotees injured in the incident. In a post on X, Parameshwara said that he would request for compensation to be provided to the injured from the Chief Minister’s relief fund.

“The Ayyappa maladharis, who was injured in a cooking gas cylinder explosion in Sainagar, Hubballi, are receiving treatment and I have visited the hospital to inquire about their health. The injured are being treated well by a team of expert doctors. A request will be made to provide compensation from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund”, he said.

Meanwhile, in another incident three people died and nine were injured after a collision between a sugarcane-loaded truck, tourist vehicle and a bike near Gobbur village in Kalaburagi district in the state on Wednesday.

According to the police, the deceased were identified as Vinita (56), Anoop (29) and Basavaraj (40). The injured were shifted to hospital. Kalaburagi Superintendent of Police A Srinivasulu visited the accident spot to inspect for the cause of the accident. (ANI)