Two killed, 10 injured in blast during religious procession in Punjab

Two persons were killed and 10 injured when a blast occurred in a tractor-trailer during a nagar kirtan (religious procession) near Daleke village on Saturday.

The place where the blast occurred is 10km from Pubjab's capital Chandigarh. 

Superintendent of police, headquarters, Jagjit Singh Walia said, "Two persons were killed on the spot, while several others were injured."

The procession was on its way from Gurdwara Baba Deep Singh in Pahuwind village in Bhikhiwind sub-division, to Gurdwara Tahla Sahib at Chabba village on the Tarn Taran-Amritsar road when the blast occurred at 4.30pm.

"The procession had just reached Daleke when the blast took place in a trailer of a tractor in which a chemical was stored," said Manjinder Singh, a villager.

Six to seven teenagers were on the trailer that was a part of the procession. "The teenagers were making sounds resembling gunshots during the procession by using the chemical stored in the trailer," Manjinder Singh said.

The dead were identified as Gurpreet Singh and Manpreet Singh. The injured are Anmolpreet Singh, Sargun Singh, Ajaypal Singh, Paramjot Singh, Naraindeep Singh, Harnoor Singh, Davinderbir Singh, Sarabjot Singh, Kirat Singh and Gursimran Singh.

They have been rushed to the civil hospital in Tarn Taran and Guru Nanak Dev Super Specialty Hospital in Amritsar.