Two persons were killed in a blast at a chemist shop in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur town in the early hours of Thursday. Forty-year-old shop owner Rama Rao was getting an air conditioner fixed with the help of workman, when the blast occurred, killing them both.
The incident occurred at Long Live Medical Distributors shop in a multi-storied building in Kothapeta area of the town around 2 am on Wednesday. The blast destroyed the shop and also damaged a couple of adjacent shops.
“We believe they were doing the repair works late at night to avoid disrupting business hours,” Kothapeta police said.
The explosion triggered panic in the area. Fire fighting personnel and police rushed to the spot to douse the fire caused by the blast. The cause of the explosion is yet to be confirmed, though police suspect that it may have been related to the AC.
Kothapet police have registered a case and are investigating the cause of the explosion.
Earlier this month, a woman was severely injured in a blast which occurred in Tadepalli in Guntur district. According to Times of India, the woman’s relatives initially suspected that a refrigerator leak had caused the fire. However, police concluded in their investigation that the explosion was caused by an LPG cylinder leak.
In another incident in the same month, two women were killed and three more people were injured when a gas cylinder exploded in Chilakaluripet town of Guntur district. The cylinder reportedly exploded when the women were trying to connect it to the stove.
In June, another explosion occurred in the same district in Sattenapalli mandal, when two children were injured. According to reports, the children had lit a country-made bomb accidentally, mistaking it for a regular firecracker.