Two killed in Kanpur explosion

Kanpur: A massive explosion here on Wednesday killed two persons, razed a building and damaged many houses, police said.

The incident occurred at one Raghunath Singh’s house in Maharajpur’s Sarsaul in Uttar Pradesh. It ripped through the house and razed it to the ground.

Two bodies have been recovered from the debris so far. One of the victims is Singh’s son.

Rescue operations were still underway. Police officials informed that more than seven houses in the vicinity have been badly damaged.

An official involved in the rescue operations told IANS as the lane where the incident took place was narrow, JCB machines and ambulances were finding it difficult to reach the spot.

District authorities said they were yet to ascertain the reason behind the explosion but fear that a stockpile of crackers could have triggered it.

In this area many illegal cracker manufacturing units operate and godowns are located.

–PTI