NEW DELHI — A powerful explosion ripped through a shop in a town in central India on Saturday, causing the collapse of nearby buildings, including a restaurant, and killing at least 89 people, police and medical officials said Saturday.
The explosion occurred in a shop where explosives were kept in the town of Petlawad in the state of Madhya Pradesh, according to a police official, A. R. Khan. It was unclear what triggered the explosion. Several local news reports cited a gas cylinder at the nearby restaurant as the cause of the explosion, but Mr. Khan disputed that.
Many of the dead had been having breakfast at the restaurant, the police said.
“We are still rescuing the people from the debris,” said Seema Alawa, a police official for Jhabua District, which includes the town, on Saturday afternoon. Ms. Alawa said it was too early to determine the cause of the explosion.
Dr. Urmila Choyal, a medical official in the town, said at least 82 had been killed, most of them men. She said 150 people were injured, mostly with burns and multiple fractures. Those with serious injuries were taken to the district headquarters for treatment.
Local television stations carried footage of collapsed buildings in the town, which is in the western part of the state.
The chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, announced a compensation package of just over $3,000 for the families of the victims in a news conference on Saturday.
“I am extremely shaken by this incident,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered condolences in a statement on Saturday, saying he was “extremely pained” by the loss of lives.
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