New Delhi - At least 10 people were killed when blasts rocked two factories manufacturing explosives for coal mining in India's central state of Madhya Pradesh, news reports said Monday. Forty-nine people were injured in the blasts in eastern Singrauli district Sunday night that reduced the private factories to rubble, the PTI news agency reported.
"Ten people were killed and 49 injured in the explosions that took place on Sunday in two factories in the Bairhan Industrial area," district police chief Anurag, who uses only one name, said.
Rescue operations in the Singrauli district, located 770 kilometres north-east of state capital Bhopal, were underway but no other bodies were recovered from the debris.
Twenty-five people were discharged from local hospitals after treatment but the death toll could mount as some of the injured were in a serious condition, the report added.
The cause of the explosions was not known and police will launch investigations after the rescue operations are completed, Anurag said.
The first explosion occurred at Ideal Explosives Industries, which manufactures detonators for coal mines. The blast sparked an explosion in the adjoining Rajasthan Explosives unit.
Witnesses told the IANS news agency that the blasts were heard many kilometres away.
The entire industrial area plunged into darkness as the power supply was cut. At least 15 factories in the vicinity were damaged, officials said.
