Morena: Four women died and at least five others were injured after an explosion destroyed three houses in Madhya Pradesh's Morena city in the wee hours on Tuesday.
Vasudev Rathore, whose house was destroyed in the explosion and whose 28-year-old daughter-in-law was among the deceased, expressed suspicion that the blast was caused by gunpowder.
Superintendent of Police Sameer Saurabh said some people were still feared trapped under the debris following the incident in Rathore Colony. It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion, the SP said. Rescue operation was underway and a forensic team was also present at the site to ascertain the cause of the blast, he added.
Locals said more than six people, who were sleeping inside a house got trapped under the debris before they were rescued by the police and civic body staff. The injured were referred to Gwalior from the district hospital for advanced treatment.
According to SP Saurabh, the blast occurred in a house and three adjoining residential buildings also collapsed under impact. Officials also suggested that the number of toll and injured persons may increase further as four buildings collapsed and rescue operations were underway.
Residents claimed illegal crackers were stored in one of the houses, which may have caused the blast. Police said it was too early to say what exactly caused the explosion. "The forensic team has arrived at the spot, but the debris is delaying the operation. What exactly caused the blast would be cleared only after the forensic team gives a report," Saurabh said.
Sub Divisional Magistrate Bhupendra Singh Kushwaha said the reason behind the blast was yet not clear. A Forensic Science Laboratory team will be able to ascertain whether it was gunpowder or a gas cylinder that exploded, he added.
The blast allegedly took place after a gunpowder explosion in a house in Tanch Road Rathore Colony. The houses nearby were also damaged in the incident.
Munshilal's house collapsed due to the explosion and 67-year-old Vaijayanti Devi and Vaijayanti Devi's 40-year-old daughter Vimladevi (resident of Agra), who were sleeping on the upper floor, got buried under the rubble. While 38-year-old Raju Kushwaha got badly injured. Due to the explosion, the houses of Vasudev Rathore and Rakesh Rathore, located on the right side of Munshilal's house, also got razed to the ground.
Buried under rubble
Vasudev's daughter-in-law, 26-year-old Puja, died after being buried under the debris of the wall. While his 2-year-old grandson Shivanshu, 9-year-old Anuj Rathore, 5-year-old Betu, 30-year-old Satyaveer Rathore and wife Krishna were injured. At the same time, Kalluram Rathore's son Kanhaiya Rathore was injured when the wall of his house located at the back of Munshilal's house collapsed. Rakesh Rathore, who lived on the left side of Munshilal's house, was injured, while his 45-year-old wife Vidya Devi Rathore died.
IG Sushant Saxena, DIG Kumar Saurabh, Collector-in-charge Vivek Kumar, Superintendent of Police Sameer Saurabh, ADM CB Prasad, who arrived on Tuesday morning, inspected the spot. They also met and talked to the victim families and gathered information about the incident.
Officers are saying that the compressor and cylinder may have exploded, while according to the victim families, this explosion was caused by gunpowder. A young man from Rathore family used to work with gunpowder, police probe revealed.
In the Rathore Colony blast, mother Vaijayanti Kushwaha and daughter Vimla also died. Vimla had come from her in-laws' house in Agra to attend the wedding of her uncle's daughter.
