Varanasi:
Five people were killed and four others sustained serious burn injuries in an explosion in a two-storey building in Pitarkunda locality in Varanasi, police said on Wednesday.
The explosion took place on Tuesday night in the building where firecrackers were being produced illegally.
At the time of explosion around nine persons were inside the house.
Five of them have been killed and four others were critically injured, senior superintendent of police Nitin Tiwari said.
Three of the deceased have been identified as Sarfaraz, Shaba and Amina.
Police suspect that the incident occurred as some explosives must have caught fire.
The roof of the house also collapsed after the explosion.
The injured were rushed to the BHU's Trauma Centre, he said, adding an investigation is still underway.
A NDRF team was also called in to carry out the rescue and relief operation, Tiwari said.
District magistrate YR Mishra, divisional commissioner Nitin Ramesh Gokarn, DIG Sanjeev Gupta and other officers also rushed to the spot along with a large number of police personnel and brought the situation under control.
