5 killed in Uttar Pradesh cracker blasts

Lucknow, April 23 (IANS) Five people, including three women and two children, were killed Monday in explosions of stockpiled crackers at two places in Uttar Pradesh, police said.

Two women and as many children were killed in Sandi area of Hardoi district, about 150 km from here, when a stockpile of crackers exploded on the first floor of a double-storey building due to "excessive heat", police said. Summer time day temperatures in Hardoi are around 37 degrees Celsius.

The house was being used by a government-recognized contractor to store the crackers, they said.

The district magistrate of Hardoi has ordered a probe into the fire while police are also probing the reasons behind the blast.

In the other mishap, one woman was killed and another injured when an explosion took place in a building in Chunniganj area of Kanpur. The victim has been identified as Aafsha Khatoon. The explosion was so severe that walls of the single-storeyed house collapsed and a fire broke out.

Kanpur City police superintendent Bharat Singh Yadav said the house was apparently being used to stockpile crackers.

Inspector General of Police (Law & Order) B.P. Singh told IANS that police teams have been asked to explore "all angles" in the blast but ruled out any subversion.