Patiala: A scrap warehouse owner and a worker were killed, and three persons left critically injured after a tar tanker exploded when it was being dismantled at Mandi Gobindgarh town of Fatehgarh Sahib late Thursday evening, police said.D K Bhalla, a Phagwara resident who owned a warehouse on Amloh Road, was declared dead on arrival at Civil Hospital. Worker Brijesh Kumar, who was shifted to a hospital in Sector 32, Chandigarh, died during treatment, police said. The three survivors — Dashrath, his wife Poonam Devi, and Inder Kumar — have been referred to Rajindra Hospital in Patiala for advanced treatment.Police sources said the explosion occurred when workers were dismantling a tar or asphalt tanker with a gas cutter. Flammable gas had accumulated inside the enclosed tanker and ignited when the cutter breached its surface, triggering a powerful explosion that engulfed Bhalla and others nearby.Fire department officials said they received an emergency call around 7 pm. Two water tenders and three foam chemical fire engines were deployed. It took 45 minutes to extinguish the blaze.
