17 die in India after gas explosion
Three buildings in western India collapsed when a cooking gas cylinder exploded today, killing at least 17 people and injuring 43 others, police said.
Many more people were trapped in the debris and fire fighters, police and volunteers were helping in the rescue operations in the city of Surat in Gujarat state, police said.
“We fear that around 70 others are still trapped inside the fallen buildings,” V.K. Gupta, Surat’s police commissioner, told The AP.
Rescuers were using sniffer dogs to locate people trapped beneath concrete slabs and mounds of debris.
Heavy-duty cranes have been brought to the blast site located in one of the most congested neighbourhoods of Surat.
The powerful blast happened last night when most of the people in the three-story buildings were asleep.
Gupta said the explosion appeared to be an accident.
“Apparently it seems that it is not the handiwork of any terrorist organisation,” he said.
Surat, 190 miles north of the state capital, Gandhinagar, is a well-known centre for the cutting and polishing of diamonds.
Around 100 people worked and lived in the buildings, said Manoj Sorathiya, a nearby resident.
“The ground floor of all the buildings are used for diamond cutting and polishing work and they use gas cylinders extensively,”
