Jhabua: The toll in the twin blasts in Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh reached 88 yesterday with the death of an injured person while Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan visited the district to assess the situation.

Police said an FIR had been registered against the house-owner who had allegedly stocked explosives and his warehouse and house had been sealed.

Jhabua’s Additional Superintendent of Police Seema Alwa said: “So far 88 people have died in the incident. The house and godown of explosives’ stockist Rajendra Kaswa have been sealed. A case has been filed against him under the Explosives Act and for causing unintentional death. A search has been launched to locate him.”

As Chouhan was heading towards the blast site after visiting the hospital protesters blocked his way to demand arrest of the owner of the house and action against “irresponsible” officials.

The protesters said some of the local residents had repeatedly brought to the notice of the administration the fact that explosives were stocked in the house in the thickly populated area but no action was taken.

The chief minister told protesters at the blast site that he had announced a judicial probe into the blasts in which more than 100 people were wounded.

Chouhan assured the crowd that the judicial probe would be conducted fairly and even if it took `1m to get the injured treated funds would be provided. He said no guilty person would be allowed to escape.

“I will go among the affected families and have a look at their condition. They would be provided anything they need. I will return from Petalwad town only after solving the problem” the chief minister said.

A cylinder burst at a hotel in Petlawad town followed by a massive blast that ripped through an adjoining building last Saturday.

Clutching photographs of their relatives people yesterday launched a desperate search for their kin in hospitals.

Many of the injured were admitted to hospitals in Petlawad Indore Ratlam and Dahod in neighbouring Gujarat. People who survived last Saturday’s blast shivered at the thought.

“I was on my way to work after having tea with my son Ravi when I heard the news about some ‘sparking’. My son went off to take a look at it. I tried to stop him but he didn’t listen to me. A moment later a huge blast occurred and there were bodies lying everywhere. My son was also among them” said Pushkar a labourer.

People said many buildings turned into rubble and they could hear the screams of the victims trapped underneath.

People went to the post-mortem departments of hospitals and to cremation grounds to look for their relatives.

The magnitude of the blasts can be gauged by the manner in which the bodies were being identified by the clothes the victims were wearing last Saturday and by their birthmarks.

Two students Prince and Prashant were going to a coaching institute when the blasts occurred.

Their bodies were found yesterday in a hospital. One of the bodies was headless and it was identified as that of Prince only by an identity card in his pocket.

The headless torso of Badri Lal was also identified by his relatives by the mark of an earlier wound.

Akshat a 12-year-old boy suffered fractures in his legs and injuries to his head.

He is undergoing treatment in a hospital in Ratlam while his parents were killed in last Saturday’s incident.

IANS