Bhubaneswar: Panic and confusion gripped the denizens of Capital city as a powerful blast took place at a LPG station of Indian Oil Corporation near Raj Bhawan Wednesday afternoon leaving at least 10 people injured.
The blast which created a crater of about 20 ft at the LPG station portrayed a sorry picture with mutilated body parts strewn around the area. Local residents narrated how a deafening sound followed by a fire spitting high into the sky from the filling station left them flabbergasted and scared for several hours. “It felt like a tremor,” said a resident.
“I was on my way to Unit-I market through Raj Bhawan when the powerful blast almost made me fell off the bike. The blast was so intense that I was unable to hear anything around me for a few minutes. My left ear is still ringing. I was lucky enough that I had passed the station a few seconds before the explosion,” said Sukanti Sahoo, a resident at Jagamara.
Locals also said that the blast was so powerful that it felt like an earthquake. This could be corroborated from the fact that many nearby buildings suffered cracks and window panes were damaged due to the explosion. “The debris of shattered roofs almost fell on us. Thankfully, I was last in the queue,” said a youth who was at the station.
Meanwhile, likening the blast to the one that happened in Beirut, Lebanaon earlier this year, Prateek Jena, who had come for his afternoon tea to the nearby Omfed stall, said, “Initially I thought we have witnessed something similar like Beirut. I got confused and panicked for some time. Thank God, it wasn’t as menacing as was reported from Lebanon,” Prateek said.
Distancing went for a toss
Throwing pandemic norms to the winds, large number of people had gathered at the spot to witness the incident.
Even though Commissionerate Police had restricted the area for the public, several groups of 10-15 people crammed up the area right in front of the entrance to Governor’s House. While a few of them were found without masks, others pushed and jostled their way to catch a glimpse of the blast area.
Aviral Mishra, OP
