Punjab: Two dead, seven injured after unidentified object explodes out of junk

Two people died while seven others, including a minor boy, were injured on Monday after an unidentified object exploded in Luv Kush Nagar, Amritsar.

The deceased persons have been identified as Rattan Lal and Rajinder Kumar. Among the injured are -- Sohan, Gurnam Singh, Manjit Kaur, Tarsem Lal, his son Vijay and two others.

"Two people have died in this incident and Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each for the kin of the deceased persons. Rattan Lal and Rajinder Kumar were junk dealers and the incident occurred at their shop while they were sorting the scrap material. Injured people are being treated at the Civil Hospital here," said Jagmohan Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP).

Senior police officials including Police Commissioner Dr Sukhchain Singh Gill and DCP Jagmohan Singh reached the spot soon after the incident occurred.

"The deceased persons were sorting some scrap material when something exploded from the junk. We are trying to identify the object that exploded," said Somdutt, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP).

Dog squad along with bomb squad and forensic teams also reached the spot after the incident took place.

According to the locals, the incident occurred at around 6:30 pm today and the intensity of the explosion was high as a loud blast was heard by the residents here.

"My uncle, Gurnam who works as a home guard at a Police Station here, brought some scrap material which was given by the police sleuths. Gurnam, Rattan and Rajinder were distributing the junk material among themselves when an unidentified object exploded," said Gurnam's relative.