Indian police are hunting for the owner of illegally stored explosives which accidentally detonated in the centre of a crowded town yesterday, killing at least 88 people.
Rajendra Kaswa has been charged with illegally storing gelatin sticks and urea, a common fertiliser, next to a restaurant and busy junction in the town of Petlawad in central India, a senior police official said.
The official said one person has been arrested and charged under India's Explosives Act.
Police initially thought the blast, one of the deadliest in India in recent years, was triggered by an exploding gas cylinder in the restaurant, which then detonated the explosives next door.
However, officers now believe it originated in the warehouse next to the restaurant where Mr Kaswa stored explosive materials and chemicals.
Mr Kaswa held a licence for the explosives but keeping them so close to a restaurant in a densely populated part of town was illegal, another police official said.
At least 88 people were killed in the explosions as the multi-storey restaurant and adjacent buildings collapsed, sending debris hurtling into the streets during the morning rush hour.
Television footage showed bodies strewn across the ground amid mangled motorbikes and chunks of concrete. Police said they had since removed all the bodies from the scene.
More than 100 people were injured in the blasts.
The chief minister of Madhya Pradesh state arrived at the scene today where his convoy was blocked by angry locals waving black flags, the Times of India reported.
Local media have said residents previously complained about the location of the explosives but authorities failed to act.
The state government said a full probe into the explosions would be carried out, while officials from New Delhi have been dispatched to help with the investigation.
