At least 104 people have been killed when a gas cylinder exploded in a restaurant in central India, local media reports said.

The death toll rose rapidly from an initial count of 20 after rescuers recovered dozens more bodies from the debris of the destroyed restaurant and neighboring structures in the town of Petlawad in Jhabua district.

'There are 104 confirmed deaths at the moment. Eighty-two postmortems have been carried out and 22 are still pending,' M. L. Gond, an inspector in charge of Jhabua's police control room said.

"My information is that 60 people are injured, but the number could be higher."

Senior district police official Seema Alava said the intensity of Saturday's blast knocked down a neighbouring building and damaged several others.

Television footage shows scores of people and rescue workers using their bare hands to shift mangled heaps of steel and concrete of the ruined buildings while police cordoned off the area.
Source: MENA