© AFPPeople gather around the site of an explosion at a restaurant in Jhabua district in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh on September 12, 2015.
"The restaurant was in a tightly packed locality and a lot of people were here having breakfast, that is why the casualties are so high," Seema Alava, additional police superintendent for Jhabua, told Agence France-Presse from the site by phone.
The blast, which ripped through the restaurant in Jhabua district, is believed to be a burst of a gas cylinder.
It occurred in the town of Petlawad at about 8:30 a.m. local time (5 AM GMT).
Jhabua -MP: 24 dead, 50 injured in a blast. Incident took place in a hotel situated at Petlawad bust stand in Jhabua. pic.twitter.com/OXE2iqicus— Neeraj Shrivastava (@NeerShrivastava) September 12, 201560 people died and dozens were injured in the explosion, Inspector B.L. Gaur told Reuters.
"There was a second explosion, there were more casulaties," Gaur said. He added the restaurant was next to a building where gelatine sticks [gelignite] used at construction sites were stored.
Jhabua gas cylinder blast pic.twitter.com/ngNHHtUr3o — Akshay Paliwal (@akshaypaliwal89) September 12, 2015The second floor of the restaurant was reportedly occupied by a hotel.
Buildings next to the blast site have also been considerably damaged.
#FirstVisuals from Jhabua (MP), where a LPG cylinder blast in a hotel took place. 20 people reportedly dead. pic.twitter.com/SYRobKLA5U — ANI (@ANI_news) September 12, 2015Rescue workers have been searching for survivors in the debris. The blast site has been cordoned off by police.
The restaurant was situated close to a busy bus stop, which explains the high number of casualties, AFP reported, citing Anurag Mishra, an official from the district police control room.
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