7 Children Injured In Explosion Near Garbage Dump In Bihar's Bhagalpur

Seven children were injured, three of them seriously, in an explosion near a garbage dump in Bihar's Bhagalpur district on Tuesday, a senior police officer said.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Bhagalpur, Anand Kumar told PTI that the blast took place in Khilafat Nagar locality, under the jurisdiction of Habibpur police station, of the town and the children appeared to have inadvertently fiddled with an explosive substance.

"Seven children, three of them seriously, were injured in the incident. All of them have been admitted to the nearest government hospital," he said.

"The incident took place around noon and forensic experts as well dog squad have reached the spot to defuse any such explosives that may be lying at the garbage dump and also identify the nature of the explosion that took place. Investigators have collected crucial exhibits from the spot and will be sent for scientific examination," said the SSP.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to further investigate the matter, he said adding, "Officials are trying to find out the nature of explosive material found from the spot......was it a country-made bomb, or some firecracker...and whatever...Evidence is being collected from the spot. Senior officials are there at the site," the SSP said.

Talking to reporters, Pankaj Kumar, Station House Office of Habibpur police station said, "Injured children are giving two different versions...Some children told police that a bomb was planted there and it exploded when they were playing...other children told cops that a person came and threw a bomb-like object there, which exploded." All injured children are out of danger, the SHO added. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)