Six members of a family, including two children, were killed in an explosion at a house in Sevdha tehsil of Datia district on Wednesday, police said. Datia's Additional Superintendent of Police Surendra Singh Gaur said the exact cause of the explosion is yet to be ascertained, but they suspect that some cooking gas cylinders kept in the house exploded.
He said Rashid's sister Razia was to get married soon for which he had kept a stock of cylinders, fire crackers and raw food at his place. The house, located in Matan Ka Pehara locality which is around 65 km from the district headquarters, was flattened in the explosion, police said. Forensic experts are on way to the site to find out the cause of the explosion, Gaur said. The deceased have been identified as Rashid, his wife Ruby (35), sister Razia (22) and his two children Ashiqui (9) and Ashiq (8), he said. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination, the ASP said.
The State Government has announced a financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured. The explosion was so intense that Khan's entire house and that of his neighbour came crumbling down. Initially, eyewitnesses told police that seven people including a passerby were killed in the accident but police recovered bodies of six.
Datia Superintendent of Police Irshad Wali said he was on his way to the spot and also confirmed the deaths.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Minister for Public Relations, Water Resources and Parliamentary Affairs Narottam Mishra have expressed grief over the incident.