Hudhud baby loses life in cylinder blast

VISAKHAPATNAM: In a cruel twist of fate, the less than two-month-old baby girl, who was miraculously born on the day that Cyclone Hudhud ripped through Vizag, was killed by an LPG cylinder explosion, that too in a neighbour's house.
The baby girl, who was yet to be named, and not even two months old was the second child of auto-rickshaw driver Vaddadi Devi Prasad Kumar and Bhavani.Their elder daughter Harini is three years old. The grief stricken father told media persons that his daughter was born on October 12 at KGH and they were planning to name her Varshita after she completed three months.
He said they were overjoyed when the baby girl defied all odds and was born on the day Hudhud struck the city, which unleashed terror in the Port. But their happiness lasted less than two months as the girl did not survive the blast that took place bang opposite their residence in Rangireeju Street. His wife Bhavani, who was weeping inconsolably, said she had been taking precautions after somebody raised an alarm over gas leakage near their house but within the seconds of the blast, a piece of asbestos fell on the baby girl, who was sleeping in her cot at the time of the accident.
The baby's death also left locals shocked. One of the neighbours, K Srinivasa Rao, said they were helping the parents select a few names that rhyme with Hudhud as she was the only child to be born on that day in the entire colony. "We were amazed and happy that the girl survived the terrible cyclone and was born on October 12. We are shocked that she has been so cruelly snatched away by fate," he said.