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1st LD: Toll of India's building blast rises to 82

Xinhua, September 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

The death toll in the blast at a building in the Jhabua district of the central Indian state Madhya Pradesh Saturday morning has reached 82, while over 100 were injured, said a medical officer.

Chief Medical Officer Arun Sharma told local media in the state capital Bhopal that 82 were confirmed dead while the toll could rise as many are believed to be buried under the debris of the destroyed building, according to Press Trust of India.

There are various descriptions of the blast cause by police and media reports.

The Press Trust of India reported that the blast took place around 08:30 a.m. local time at the building housing a restaurant situated in Petlawad town, some 60 km from Jhabua.

Earlier, police said the explosion was caused by a cooking gas cylinder kept in the adjacent three-storeyed building housing a hotel. Both the buildings were extensively damaged in the high- impact explosion compounding the tragedy.

However, explosives stored by the owner of one of the buildings were now believed to be the cause of the explosion.

"The blast took place at the rented shop owned by Rajendra Tatwa. Tatwa is an explosive licensee and stored explosives in the shop rented by him from Mangilal Rathore in Petlawad. The blast took place at 08.30 a.m.," local daily The Times of India online quoted sub divisional officer of police, Petlavad, A. R. Khan as saying. Endi