Belpada: In a heartwrenching incident, a 17-year-old boy died by suicide late Friday night after learning about the death of his mother in hospital following an LPG cylinder explosion at Kanut village under Belpada block in Bolangir district.
The deceased boy was identified as Drona Mahakur, 17, son of Malati Mahakur and Surath Mahakur in the village. Malati was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Rourkela for her critical burn injuries sustained during an LPG cylinder blast. However, she succumbed Friday.
Unable to bear the loss, a traumatised Drona tied a saree of his mother around his neck and hanged himself to death. The back-to-back deaths of the woman and her son have pushed the neighbours and other co-villagers into mourning.
The incident occurred when Drona’s father Surath Mahakur and elder brother Lalit Mahakur were away at Rourkela to bring back the body of Malati.
On being informed, police seized the body and handed it over to their neighbours after a post-mortem as no family member was present at the village, Saturday morning.
As per reports, six persons from two families sustained critical burn injuries in an LPG cylinder blast in the house of Mahesh Adabaria at Kanut village, February 10. The explosion occurred due to a leak in the pipe of an LPG cylinder.
Among the six critically injured, five were from one family and Malati was their neighbour. The injured persons were initially admitted to the VSS Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) at Burla in Sambalpur district. Among them, Bhanu Adabaria died February 11 while the rest of the injured were shifted to the JP Burn Hospital in Rourkela. Two others, Mahesh and Bhairavi, succumbed to their injuries February 15 while Malati Mahakur died February 16. Notably, the blast has so far claimed lives of four persons including three of a family.
Meanwhile, the health condition of two others, Bhagyabati Adabaria and Duti Adabaria, is stated to be critical and under observation, hospital sources said.
On the other hand, Belpada tehsildar Banabihari Harpal and BDO Rajesh Kumar Meher reached the spot and took stock of the situation.
PNN