At least 89 die as gas blast rips through breakfast restaurant in central India

At least 89 people were killed at a restaurant in central India on Saturday when a cooking gas cylinder exploded and triggered a second blast of mine detonators stored illegally nearby, police said. The explosions tore through the restaurant as labourers sat down for breakfast during the morning rush hour in the town of Petlawad, about 800 km (500 miles) south of New Delhi.

This is a tragic incident, which has shook me. The causes of the incident will be investigated.

Madhya Pradesh’s chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Rescue workers extricated 89 bodies from under a huge heap of rubble, said Mewa Lal Gond, a police inspector in the mining district of Jhabua, where Petlawad is located. Most of those killed in the explosions were poor laborers. Their families were likely to cremate the bodies later Saturday. Around 100 other people were injured in the blasts and were taken to hospitals, Gond said. The explosive materials are used by miners for blasting operations or for digging wells.

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