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Indian police hunt suspect after restaurant blast
Authorities criticised after explosion in Madhya Pradesh state, one of the
deadliest in India in recent years, killed at least 88
people
Indian police are hunting for a suspect who illegally stored explosives in a
restaurant building that detonated, killing at least 88 people.
The blast, one of the deadliest in India in recent years, occurred in the town of Petlawad in Madhya Pradesh state’s Jhabua district on Saturday morning when many office workers and schoolchildren were having breakfast in the restaurant and scores of labourers waited at a crowded bus stand near the building.
“The official death toll is 88, but the actual number may be higher, nearly 100. That will be confirmed soon,” senior Jhabua district police official Seema Alava told AFP by phone, adding that about 100 others were injured and rescue operations had been wrapped up.
“The explosives in the building exploded firs t... extreme heat sparked a urea nitrate chemical reaction and then that was it. Everything went off after that,” Alava said. The blast destroyed neighbouring buildings and vehicles nearby.
She said a suspect, Rajendra Kasawa, who has been on the run with his brothers since Saturday, had illegally stored urea, gelatine sticks, detonators and other explosives used for digging wells, construction and mining in a warehouse in the building.
Although Kasawa had a licence for the material, Alava said he stored them “in an unauthorised way in a residential area” and therefore, been charged with culpable homicide and unlawful possession of explosives. “We were up almost all night. We will find him, it is only a matter of time,” she said.
The chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, visited Petlawad, 590 miles (950km) south of New Delhi, on Sunday.
“I’m deeply saddened by the incident at Petlawad,” Chouhan told reporters before heading to the blast site. Locals surrounded him and demanded better security, saying their earlier complaints against Kasawa had gone unheard by district officials.
Many complained that mine operators such as Kasawa are negligent in storing detonators and other explosive materials, yet authorities rarely act against them.
Photographs from Saturday’s scene showed corpses covered in dust and ash lying in the streets alongside the twisted wreckage of burnt-out vehicles, and witnesses described seeing body parts in the street.
Workers collected firewood and lit pyres that billowed black smoke into the sky as mass cremations of dozens of people were carried out late on Saturday.
Jhabua district is home to several manganese and bauxite mines where many mine workers are hired on contract from Petlawad and its neighbouring towns.
The state government said a full investigation would be carried out into the explosions, while officials from New Delhi have been dispatched to help.
The blast, one of the deadliest in India in recent years, occurred in the town of Petlawad in Madhya Pradesh state’s Jhabua district on Saturday morning when many office workers and schoolchildren were having breakfast in the restaurant and scores of labourers waited at a crowded bus stand near the building.
“The official death toll is 88, but the actual number may be higher, nearly 100. That will be confirmed soon,” senior Jhabua district police official Seema Alava told AFP by phone, adding that about 100 others were injured and rescue operations had been wrapped up.
“The explosives in the building exploded firs t... extreme heat sparked a urea nitrate chemical reaction and then that was it. Everything went off after that,” Alava said. The blast destroyed neighbouring buildings and vehicles nearby.
She said a suspect, Rajendra Kasawa, who has been on the run with his brothers since Saturday, had illegally stored urea, gelatine sticks, detonators and other explosives used for digging wells, construction and mining in a warehouse in the building.
Although Kasawa had a licence for the material, Alava said he stored them “in an unauthorised way in a residential area” and therefore, been charged with culpable homicide and unlawful possession of explosives. “We were up almost all night. We will find him, it is only a matter of time,” she said.
The chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, visited Petlawad, 590 miles (950km) south of New Delhi, on Sunday.
“I’m deeply saddened by the incident at Petlawad,” Chouhan told reporters before heading to the blast site. Locals surrounded him and demanded better security, saying their earlier complaints against Kasawa had gone unheard by district officials.
Many complained that mine operators such as Kasawa are negligent in storing detonators and other explosive materials, yet authorities rarely act against them.
Photographs from Saturday’s scene showed corpses covered in dust and ash lying in the streets alongside the twisted wreckage of burnt-out vehicles, and witnesses described seeing body parts in the street.
Workers collected firewood and lit pyres that billowed black smoke into the sky as mass cremations of dozens of people were carried out late on Saturday.
Jhabua district is home to several manganese and bauxite mines where many mine workers are hired on contract from Petlawad and its neighbouring towns.
The state government said a full investigation would be carried out into the explosions, while officials from New Delhi have been dispatched to help.
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