Two people were killed and 10 injured when a blast went off in the staff quarters of a government-run Community Health Centre in Kanpur on Thursday afternoon, leading to the collapse of a two-floor building.
Ruling out a terrorist angle behind the blast, District Magistrate Mukesh Meshram said: "Apparently, the explosion occurred following igniting of a large stock of diwali crackers in a house."
He said, "We have extricated 2 dead bodies and also rescued 10 other persons trapped under the debris of the collapsed building."
According to Meshram, "The blast occurred around 3 pm
The investigating and rescue teams have discovered a huge cache of diwali crackers and other fireworks material under the debris.
Asked if crackers and fireworks material alone could cause such a blast of such magnitude, the district magistrate said: "Well, the health centre quarters were in a dilapidated condition. So it was no surprise that the entire building collapsed on account of the cracker burst."
Early last week, four persons had lost their lives in a similar manner in another residential locality in Kanpur.
