Victim’s 10-year-old daughter narrates events that ended up in cylinder explosion

Mysore/Mysuru: What was meant to be a one-day Christmas vacation trip to Mysuru turned tragic for two families, with one woman losing her life and another battling injuries after the helium cylinder blast outside the Jayamarthanda Gate of Mysore Palace on Thursday night.

Lakshmi succumbed to her injuries, while her sister-in-law, Ranjitha, is undergoing treatment at JSS Hospital on M.G. Road and is said to be out of danger. Lakshmi’s 10-year-old daughter, Dimple, was among those who witnessed the horrific blast. Speaking to media persons at hospital on Friday, the traumatised child recounted how the tragedy unfolded.

With Christmas holidays underway, Dimple, a Class 5 student in Bengaluru, had accompanied her mother to Mysuru.

They were joined by Ranjitha — the sister of Lakshmi’s husband, Rajesh — and her son Nihaal from Belavadi. The family first visited Himavad Gopalaswamy Hill in Gundlupet taluk of Chamarajanagar district, followed by a trip to the Srikanteshwaraswamy Temple in Nanjangud and another nearby shrine.

Caught off guard

After returning to Mysuru, they visited the Dasara Exhibition Grounds in the evening. After spending nearly an hour and a half at the exhibition, the family decided to postpone their planned visit to the Mysore Palace to next Monday and began walking towards the bus stand when the blast caught them off guard.

Recalling the moments after the explosion, a teary-eyed Dimple said in a frail voice, “Immediately after the blast, my mother and aunt collapsed on the ground. Police personnel and autorickshaw drivers who were nearby rushed to help and shifted them to the hospital.”

Dimple’s father, Rajesh, an autorickshaw driver in Bengaluru, rushed to the hospital with his relatives on Friday morning. Unable to hold back his tears, he said, “The doctors told us that my wife’s condition was critical. My daughter escaped with only minor injuries.” Meanwhile, Ranjitha’s husband, Vinod, said that she is responding to treatment and is out of danger.