NEW DELHI — Police say 82 people were killed in two nearly simultaneous explosions in a crowded restaurant in central India.
Inspector Mewa Lal Gond says a cooking gas cylinder exploded in the restaurant on Saturday and triggered a second blast of detonators stored nearby.
He says 82 bodies were retrieved from the site of the explosion.
Gond says the restaurant, located in Petlawad town in Madhya Pradesh state, was full of people having breakfast when the blasts occurred.
Arun Sharma, a state health official, says doctors at a government hospital in the nearby district town of Jhabua conducted autopsies of 60 victims. The bodies were then handed over to the victims' families.
Gond says around 35 other people were hospitalized with injuries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered condolences through his office's Twitter account.
Extremely pained at the loss of lives due to the cylinder blast in Jhabua. My deepest condolences to the families of the deceased: PM— PMO India (@PMOIndia) September 12, 2015