Jamshedpur, April 27: Four members of a family sustained grievous burns in an LPG cylinder blast at Manjhitola under Adityapur police station area this afternoon.

The victims have been admitted to Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College and Hospital, where the condition of all the four was stated to be critical. All the victims have sustained more than 90 per cent burns and are not in a condition to speak.

Those burnt were identified as Kaushal Chandra Bhanj, wife Manjurani, sons Tapas Kumar (23) and Manas Kumar (18).

Sources said that Kaushal had recently got a new LPG connection. Manjurani was cooking on one of the gas ovens, while her husband was trying to light the new oven. Having failed, Bhanj summoned his sons for help.

Just then, a big fire broke out and engulfed the entire house. The new connection reportedly belonged to Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited.

On receiving the news, the Jamshedpur division office of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) sent a team to Manjhitola to probe into the incident though the new connection belonged to HPCL.

R.N. Moulick, manager, LPG section, IOCL, said whenever a new connection is provided, technicians of local distributors are supposed to ensure that the connection is alright.

“Precise fitting of the new connections is something, which we attach importa- nce the most. But still, there must have been mistake on someone’s part, otherwise the mishap would not have occurred.”