Woman dies in building collapse in UP's Ghaziabad, 2 family members injured

A 26-year-old married woman died while her sister-in-law and infant nephew sustained injuries after the roof of their house came crashing down in Mustafabad Colony in Loni here on Wednesday afternoon, police said.

Police suspect that the incident was caused by a gas cylinder explosion.

Superintendent of Police (Rural) Neeraj Kumar Jadaun said the victims -- Anjum (26), Afreen and her 18-month-old boy Ovesh -- were pulled out of the debris by their neighbours and rushed to the nearest hospital where the attending doctors pronounced Anjum brought dead. Afreen and her son are undergoing treatment.

According to the SP, Irfaan and Nisar are two brothers living in two adjacent 25 sq ft houses. Anjum was married to Irfaan while Afreen is Nisar's wife. When the explosion took place, the ceiling of one house crashed while the other one partly collapsed. At the time of the incident, the men were not at home.

Yet, Anas, a Meerut resident and brother of the deceased Anjum, was present at Loni police station where he claimed that there was no evidence of any explosion as there was no cylinder scrap found at the debris site. He also alleged that his sister was tortured by her husband Irfaan and the couple had heated arguments several times.

Police said they would probe the case from all possible angles. A registration of an FIR is underway,Jadaun said.