5 injured as gas filled balloon explodes at party

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: A birthday party held on Saturday night ended on a tragic note when a gas-filled balloon exploded at a house in Belathur near KR Puram, causing a flare-up that injured five people including four children.

Following an inspection, the jurisdictional police expressed suspicion that the balloon may have been filled with highly flammable hydrogen gas instead of helium, which could have led to the incident.

The police identified the injured as Vijay Aditya Kumar, 44, Dhyan Chandra, 7, Sanjay, 8, Sohila, 3 and Ishan, 2. It was learnt that Vijay Kumar was an Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) employee in Bengaluru.

All of them were immediately rushed to Victoria Hospital and are currently under treatment. Speaking to News Trail, Kadugodi police said the incident took place around 9:30 pm at Vijay's house in Belathur when family and friends were celebrating his daughter's birthday.

The police further said that the balloon may have exploded when it touched an electric wire in the house. It was said that the children were playing with the balloon in the living room during which it went up and touched a wire and burst into flames injuring the five people.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Whitefield, Sanjeev M Patil said a case has been registered.

"We are trying to ascertain whether the gas was helium or hydrogen. Helium is an inert gas and is safe even if it comes in contact with flame or heat.''