Birthday balloon explosion in India leaves 2 with burn injuries

Balloons meant for a joyous birthday celebration in India nearly became the reason for a tragedy when they exploded in a fiery blaze inside a small lift on Feb 2.

The incident happened at around 10.30pm in a residential building in Goregaon, a suburb in Mumbai, according to local police as quoted by Times of India.

Two people reportedly suffered burn injuries from the explosion – 21-year-old student Himani Tapriya and 32-year-old Raju Kumar Mahato, who was delivering the balloons.

CCTV footage of the lift, which has since gone viral on social media, shows Ms Tapriya entering the lift first while pulling a luggage bag behind her.

Following behind her is Mr Mahato, who was pushing a trolley loaded with a clear bag of more than 10 gas-filled balloons. The bag of balloons narrowly fit through the lift doors, and Mr Mahato appeared to have lightly knocked bag against lift doors once while steering the trolley into the lift.

A third person, who seems to be talking to Mr Mahato, also steps into the lift behind him.

Before the lift doors can close, the bag of balloons suddenly combusts, engulfing the lift in flames for a split second.

All three occupants immediately dash out of the lift.

After they stumble through the open lift doors, Mr Mahato appears to fall, while Ms Tapriya can be seen hunching over and dropping her handbag.

She reportedly suffered burns to her right arm, neck and stomach.

According to Times of India, the Goregaon police registered a case of negligence against the balloon shop’s owner, Mr T K Jaiswal.

“He did not provide safety instructions to the delivery person, which led to the incident,” the police said, adding that the balloons were ordered by a building resident for a birthday celebration in his family.

It is unclear what gas the balloons were filled with, although the two most common are helium and hydrogen. Helium is not flammable, while hydrogen is, although the latter is cheaper.