5-killed-in-cylinder-blast-in-up-s-bulandshahr

At least five people were killed and three injured following a cylinder blast that led to a house collapse in the Sikandrabad area of Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district late on Monday night. 

Five people have been killed and three injured following a cylinder blast that led to a house collapse in the Sikandrabad area of Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district late on Monday night, police said. 

District Magistrate of Bulandshahr Chandra Prakash Singh said the incident occurred on Monday evening in the house of one Riyazuddin, who was involved in shuttering work, in which around 19 people were living.

The blast led to the collapse of the entire house, adding that there were 18–19 people in the house at the time of the of the incident. 

"A cylinder blast occurred in the Ashapuri colony of Sikandrabad between 8.30 pm and 9.00 pm, leading to the collapse of the entire house," he said, adding that of the three injured, the condition of one was serious.

Additional Director General of Police, Meerut Zone, Dhruva Kant Thakur, said information about the deaths of five people has been received so far, and some were still trapped under the debris.

The rescue operation is still underway. Personnel of the NDRF, fire brigade, police, medical, and local administration were involved in the rescue work.

The Chief Medical Officer of Bulandshahr confirmed the deaths of five people in the incident while adding that 10 people were safe.

"Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took immediate cognisance of the incident. We were sent to the spot, and directions were issued that good quality treatment should be given to the injured persons," the DM said.

About the rescue operation, he said the iron beams of the roof of the house had to be pried open using gas cutters. At the same time, an excavator was pressed into action to clear the debris.

Senior Superintendent of Police of Bulandshahr, Shlok Kumar, said the bodies have been sent for a postmortem.

Although the surviving family members have said that no one was trapped under the debris anymore, the rescue teams are taking all precautions while carrying out their work, he added.