The Maharashtra Nagar locality after the cylinder blast

A cylinder blast in Mankhurd claimed three lives yesterday. Six children who are recuperating in Sion hospital and friends of the Wankhede family are angry at this cruel twist of fate as the family was to shift to another house next month.

Last morning's LPG cylinder blast in Gadhves' tenement, which also led to a wall collapse, shook up two other families as well — Wankhedes and Pawars. While Sanjay, Rekha and Kasturba Wankhede died, 10 others (Vishakha and Pratik Wankhede, Swati, Rudra and Kadambari Pawar, and Umesh, Shobha, Omkar, Soham and Swastik Gadhve), including seven children, were injured.

Bad luck and timing
Rekha Wankhede's best friend Vaishali Rajguru said Rekha had been saving up for a house for years and the family had been all set to shift next month. "I had met her the night before the blast happened. She was very happy and excited about the new house because they had been staying on rent. The timing couldn't be worse," a teary-eyed Rajguru said.