DHAKA: Over 80 people died and nearly 100 were injured as a powerful gas cylinder explosion ripped through a restaurant near Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh in India on Saturday.

According to senior police officials, gelatine sticks used in mining stored in a house next to the restaurant added to the intensity of the blast.

As a result, the two-storey building housing the restaurant collapsed and several adjacent buildings suffered damages, NDTV reported

The explosion at Sethiya Restaurant, situated in a residential area near a bus stand in Petlawad, over 300 kms from the state capital, happened around 9:00am.

The death toll rose after rescuers recovered more bodies from the debris of the shattered restaurant and surrounding buildings. As many as 20 of those injured are believed to be in critical condition.

"The restaurant was located in a tightly packed locality where a lot of people were having breakfast, that is why the casualties are so high," senior district police official Seema Alava said.

Another district police official cited the restaurant's proximity to a busy bus stand as the reason for the high number of casualties.

BDST:  1036/ 1630 HRS, SEP 12, 2015
RS