MORENA: Four persons, including three members of a family, were killed and six others injured after a house, where firecrackers were stored by a tenant, collapsed following a blast in Banmore town of Madhya Pradesh's Morena district on Thursday, a senior police official said.
The impact of the blast was so severe that the ground-plus-one-storey structure was reduced to rubble, while two nearby houses were damaged.
The tenant's wife, their eight-year-old daughter, 18-year-old son and one more person died in the incident that occurred around 11 am, he said.
The cause of the blast is yet to be known, officials said.
"Four persons were killed and six others injured in the blast incident," Inspector General of Police (IG) Chambal Range Rajesh Chawla said.
Banmore police station in-charge Biresh Kushwaha said the house belonged to a man named Nirmal Chand Jain.
The first floor of the house was given on rent to Jameel Khan, who resided there with his family.
He had stored large quantity of firecrackers in the house without permission, another official said.
"Around 11 am, a blast took place there. Its intensity was so severe that the entire structure collapsed and a few people got trapped under the debris," he said.
The deceased were identified as Jameel Khan's wife Anno Khan (35), their daughter Zoya and son Mehmood, he said, adding that one more person died in the incident.
However, Jameel Khan survived as he jumped off the terrace immediately after the blast.
Of the six injured, two were taken to Gwalior after being given preliminary treatment at Banmore local hospital, while the rest are being treated in Banmore, the IG said.
A case was registered in connection with the incident, the official said.
Meanwhile, Morena Superintendent of Police (SP) Ashutosh Bagri told PTI that the cause of the blast is not clear yet.
The quantity of crackers was not much, he said, adding that it cannot be said with certainty that the blast took place because of gunpowder or due to cylinder blast.
Experts are examining the site to find out the reason behind the blast, he said.
Senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath demanded a probe into the incident and urged the government to take necessary steps for prevention of such incidents in view of the coming Diwali festival.