10 killed in blast in eastern India

PBC News: As many as 10 people were killed and nine others injured in a powerful explosion that ripped through a three-storey building in the eastern Indian state of Bihar in the small hours on Friday.

Officials said the explosion occurred inside a house in the town of Bhagalpur, 250 kms from state capital Patna, reducing it to rubble. Two adjacent houses also collapsed like a pack of cards in the impact, reports UNB.

Bhagalpur district magistrate Subrat Kumar Sen said that the powerful blast occurred in the house of a middle-aged person, named Mahendra Mandal, who had been running an illegal fireworks factory on his premises.

“The 10 bodies recovered so far were badly disfigured, and the administration is yet to confirm the identities of the deceased. Nine survivors have been rushed to a hospital,” he told the local media.

Local TV channels aired footage of rescue operations being carried out by police and residents of the area in Kajbalichak.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences over the loss of lives in Bhagalpur. He also spoke with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and took stock of the rescue operations this morning.

“A probe has been ordered into the explosion,” Sen said.