Body of teen victim of marriage hall blast brought home

Kavita's body is brought home Thursday for the final rites.

By Nivedita Niranjankumar and Christine Machado

BANGALORE (Sept. 22)—The body of 16-year-old Kavita, who was killed in Wednesday’s explosion next to a Summanahalli marriage hall, was brought home Thursday afternoon amid loud wailing from family and friends.

“I was returning home for lunch when the explosion happened,” said Nagaraj, Kavita’s father, who saw his daughter leaving their home two doors down. “Kavita was coming out of the building when a slab fell over her,” he said.

Kavita was a student at Srigandha Kavala P.U. College.
“Had she gone to college yesterday she would still have been alive,” said Pratibha, a fellow student of Kavita at the college.

Firefighters’ probe shifts to sari-dyeing factory

The explosion was originally attributed to an LPG cylinder in the marriage hall. But firefighters at Peenya Fire Station said Thursday that their investigation was focused on leakage from 20 liters of synthetic chemical tanks at the sari-dyeing factory in a three-story building between the marriage hall and Kavita’s home.

“It is possible that leakage from these tanks caused the explosion,” said Krishnappa, assistant fire officer at Peenya Fire Station. “No remnants of LPG cylinders have been found at the site suggesting LPG cylinders as the cause.”

He added that the manufacture of agarbati (incense) sticks in the building could have also aided the spread of the fire.

The second victim of the blast has not been identified officially, but residents said the man worked at the sari factory.

All residents have been evacuated and rescue operations are over, said Venkatesh Babu, the corporator. He said there were no more bodies left to be removed.

The corporator said he had requested that the mayor rebuild the buildings damaged in the blast.

The authorities have so far been unable to locate Srinivasan, the owner of the Lakshmi Venkateshwar Kalyana Mantapa marriage hall.