5 days on, woman injured in Abohar blast dies

Abohar: Five days after sustaining severe burn injuries in an explosion in the Patel Park locality of Abohar, Pooja breathed her last on Sunday at AIIMS, Bhatinda, where she was undergoing treatment. The blast occurred at a sugarcane juice stall operating on residential premises on April 21. Stall owner Deepak Chug, his sister Pooja, mother Neelam and two other women, standing opposite the stall, were injured in the blast.Pooja had suffered over 90% burns in the incident and was referred in critical condition to the AIIMS, Bhatinda.The exact cause of the explosion is yet to be ascertained. The police are investigating the matter, and samples collected from the blast site have been sent for forensic analysis.Four shops and a house were also damaged in the explosion, reportedly triggered by a spark in the generator set installed at the juice stall.According to Gurmeet Singh, senior superintendent of police, Fazilka, preliminary investigations suggest the explosion may have been caused by the bursting of a generator piston.Pooja's body is expected to arrive in Abohar by Sunday evening. The body will be kept at the govt hospital and handed over to the family after a post-mortem, said a source.The other injured persons are reported to be stable.