Bengal: Three killed, several injured in blast near venue of TMC's Abhishek Banerjee's rally
Contai (WB), (PTI): At least two people were killed and several others injured in a blast near the venue of senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee's scheduled rally in Purba Medinipur district, police said on Saturday.
The incident took place in Bhupatinagar area, only 1.5 km from Contai town, where TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee is scheduled to address a public meeting on Saturday, a police officer said.
"The blast was reported in a house around 11.15 pm on Friday and two bodies were recovered on Saturday morning. A few others are injured.
"The cause of the blast is yet to be ascertained and further investigation is underway but the impact was so powerful that a mud house with a thatched roof was blown off in the incident," the senior police officer of Contai sub-division said, adding that a forensic team has reached the spot to collect samples.
BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh held the TMC responsible for the incident and said that "only the bomb-making industry is flourishing in the state".
Senior CPI (M) leader Sujan Chakraborty asked why Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was silent on such incidents and demanded a statement from her.
TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said that it is very easy for the opposition to blame the ruling party in West Bengal without any evidence.
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Nine dead as fire breaks out in residential building in east Delhi
New Delhi (PTI): A fire broke out in a residential building in east Delhi's Vivek Vihar early Sunday, leaving nine people belonging to two families dead, including a toddler, officials said.
The incident was reported around 3.48 am at a four-storey building in Vivek Vihar Phase-I, following which police, fire and disaster management teams rushed to the spot.
According to the police, the blaze engulfed flats on the second, third and fourth floors of the building, prompting a large-scale rescue operation.The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) said nine charred bodies were recovered from different floors.
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"One body was recovered from the first floor, five from the second floor and three from the staircase which was found locked," the DFS officer said.
Those found dead on the second floor have been identified as Arvind Jain (60), his wife Anita Jain (58), son Nishant Jain (35), daughter-in-law Anchal Jain (33) and grandchild Akash Jain.
On the third floor, three members of a family were found dead. They were identified as Nitin Jain (50), wife Shailey Jain (48) and son Samyak Jain (25).
On the first floor a woman identified as Shikha Jain (45) was found dead while her husband Naveen Jain (48) sustained injuries.
A senior police officer said, "Around 10 to 15 people were rescued from the premises during the firefighting operation. Two of them, who sustained minor injuries, were shifted to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital."
A total of 12 fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames, while teams from the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), traffic police and local police assisted in the rescue and evacuation efforts.
Police said the fire was brought under control after several hours. Efforts are underway to determine the cause of the fire, police said.
Further investigation and proceedings are underway.
