Such was the impact of the explosion that neighbouring buildings shook in the vibrations, while several window panes, some over 30 feet away, were shattered.

The false ceiling of flat No 26, located on the second floor of Nutan Kailas Niwas building, RB Mehta Marg, Ghatkopar (east), was hanging loose in all three rooms, the windows and doors had been blown away, the pieces of glass spread over a radius of 30 feet. Jyotiben Shah, 70, was alone in the flat. Her son, Prakash, and daughter-in-law Daksha, were away at Pune attending a family wedding. They had left yesterday afternoon and were to return this evening. A neighbour said Jyotiben did not attend weddings because of her age.

Sometime early in the afternoon, two contract labourers, carrying out piped gas installation work on behalf of Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL) knocked at thehouse to perform some welding job. Jyotiben told them to come tomorrow when her son would be present, but the workers insisted it wouldn't take much time. The doors and windows of the house were sealed, a common practice among the Shahs to keep out dust.

At 2.45 pm, a deafening explosion rocked the building. Mamta Mehta, who lives in the adjoining flat, said she was drifting into sleep when the booming sound woke her. A brick flew out of the wall which runs along flat 26 and just missed her. The wall almost completely caved in. ``As there was debris outside our door, I couldn't come to see if there was anything wrong with Jyotiben.'' Neighbours in flat no 29 across the passage thought something had happened on the road outside. Then they heard the lady shouting for help. ``We had to run down to call some young boys to clear the debris. Ajay, one of the youngsters, carried Jyotiben down, said my friends and I went inside my house minutes before the explosion. The two workers ran out with burns, shoutingMasi ko bachao. We gave them blankets and did the same with Jyotiben,'' he said.

She was taken in an auto to Rajawadi, from where she was shifted to Massina Hospital, Byculla. Later in the evening, the residents filed a criminal complaint against MGL, charging them with criminal negligence. But AK Singh, GM construction, MGL, said the leaked gas couldn't have come out of MGL pipes.