13 dead as building caves in after cylinder blast in UP

Thirteen people, including five women and three children, were killed and over a dozen others injured when their houses caved in following a cylinder blast in Uttar Pradesh's Mau town, about 350 kilometre from here, on Monday morning.

The death toll could rise further as some of the injured were stated to be in a critical condition, police sources here said.

Police said that the blast occurred when the women members of the family were preparing meal.

The blast was so powerful that almost the entire house, situated at Bichlapura locality in the town, and at least two other adjoining houses were flattened trapping around two dozen people under the debris, the police said.

Locals, who rushed to the scene, launched a rescue operation and managed to pull out several injured persons from under the debris. Relief and rescue teams were also sent to the spot from the nearby Gorakhpur town, police said.

While seven people were killed on the spot, six other succumbed to their injuries at a hospital.

"Some of the injured are very critical... The toll may rise further," said a district official in Mau.

Sources said that search was on to ascertain if more people were trapped under the debris. "The rescue operations are continuing," said the official.

The Anti-terrorist Squad (ATS) sleuths have also reached the spot and launched an investigation into the incident, sources said.