Twelve dead, several injured in blast in Bihar's Bhagalpur

At least twelve people were killed and several others were injured in a huge explosion in Bihar's Bhagalpur on Thursday night. According to the information, the blast took place in a house under Tatarpur police station limits.

Bhagalpur (Bihar): At least twelve people including a child were killed and several others were injured in a powerful blast in Bihar's Bhagalpur, officials said. According to the information, the blast took place at around 11.30 p.m. on Thursday night in a house in Kajwali Chak village under Tatarpur police station.

The blast was so intense that four houses collapsed and the sound was heard for several kilometres. The nature of the blast is yet to be ascertained.

Following the blast, Bhagalpur range DIG Sujit Kumar, District Magistrate Subrat Kumar Sen, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Babu Ram and other senior officials reached the spot.

"The blast may have taken place during the illegal manufacturing of country-made crude bombs. There is also a possibility that the alleged persons could be making crackers. As the nature of the blast was so intense, we believe that the quantity of the explosives was very high," Sujit Kumar said.

"We are in the process of recording the statement of the injured to find out the nature of explosives. We have also called the FSL team to collect the samples as well," Kumar added.

Of the twelve victims, two were identified as sixty-year-old Ganesh Prasad Singh and sixty-five year Urmila Devi, while the identities of the ten remaining were not known yet.

Meanwhile, the injured persons were admitted to the Mayaganj hospital in Bhagalpur. Four of them are in critical condition.

The rescue operation started soon after the incident and there could be more persons trapped under the debris. The areas around Bhagalpur and Munger are hubs for the illegal manufacturing of firearms and bombs.