Five people, including three women, were killed after three buildings collapsed following a cooking gas cylinder explosion in a house in Karungalpatti in Tamil Nadu's Salem early on Tuesday.
A total of 12 people, including a five year old girl, caught in the debris were rescued and admitted to the local government hospital, with the condition of one person said to be critical, the police said.
District Collector Karmegham and top police officials rushed to the spot and supervised the rescue operations by fire and rescue personnel, members from National Disaster Response Force and police department.
A search is on to locate missing persons trapped under the debris.
Investigation is on, they said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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