World

India restaurant blast in Madhya Pradesh kills 89

September 12, 2015 7:04 pm

At least 89 people have been killed in a powerful explosion that tore through a restaurant in Petlawad in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, officials say.

It was packed with workers and schoolchildren eating breakfast.

A cooking gas cylinder exploded, causing explosives illegally stored nearby to detonate, police said.

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Rescue efforts efforts have now ended – officials say they have pulled all the bodies out of the wreckage. At least 35 people are in hospital with injuries.

After the gas cylinder exploded, onlookers and people looking for their relatives gathered at the scene.

The explosives then went off, worsening the toll from the blast.

The explosives were mining detonators which were stored illegally in a room next to the restaurant, officials said.