Cylinder blast claims 8 lives in Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh

Gonda: At least eight people were killed, while seven grievously injured in a blast which took place in a house in Tikri village under Wazirganj police station area of Gonda district late on Tuesday night, police said on Wednesday.

As per the preliminary investigations, the blast was of an LPG cylinder. The roof of the two-storey house came down due to the explosion and as many as 15 people sleeping in the house, were buried under the debris, District Magistrate Markandey Shahi said.

With the help of the locals, the police personnel fished out the victims, of which seven were found alive while the remaining eight dead. The damage was severe as it was a kutcha house, Mr Shahi said.

The deceased has been identified as Shamshad (23), Miraz (11), Nisar Ahmed (35), Raveena Bano (38) Sirun Nisha (37), Noori Shaba (12) Mohammad Shoaib (2) and Shahbaz Ahmed (15).

Meanwhile, an Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) team has reached the spot to investigate the explosion as per the instructions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Inspector General of Police, Devipatan Division, Dr Rakesh Singh said that ATS from Lucknow, Bomb Disposal Squad from Ayodhya and special forensic teams from Gorakhpur have been deployed to investigate the blast site as well as in areas adjoining the village--Gonda and Ayodhya.

He said the remains of the cylinder could not be found yet as the debris from the blast was huge. The owner of the house has been identified as Nurulhasan Manihar, a fireworks businessman, the IG said.

As per the police, the roof of the house can collapse only from a strong explosion.(UNI)