The entire tiled house with five portions was blown off and pieces of tiles and bricks were carried away to a distance of 500 mtrs. The impact of the blast was such that a few of the bodies were blown off to pieces while others had severed limbs. The body of a victim was carried away to a distance of 20 metres and fell in a nearby cesspool.

The exact cause of the explosion is not known. But, according to locals, explosive material used in Diwali crackers was stored in at least nine bags each weighing 40 kgs in one of the portions. The police, on the other hand, are investigating into all possible angles and police sources do not rule out storage of some highly explosive material and gelatin sticks used in crude bombs.

``We are looking into various angles. The investigation isstill in preliminary stage and we have not yet arrived at a decision,'' a senior police official told The Indian Express, while Vijayawada-East legislator Ch Ratna Kumari demanded a thorough investigation as she sees ``something fishy'' as the scene of the incident does not reflect as that of a simple cracker blast.

The dead have been identified as Konda Ramakrishna Reddy (18), son of Konda Venkatrami Reddy, the house-owner, Kesari Vanaja Kumari (32), wife of Kesari Venkat Reddy, an employee in a cement factory, his son Bharat Reddy (9) and daughter Bharathi (6), Sadhu Jayasri (32), wife of Sadhu Sivaiah, a security guard in APSRTC, his son Praveen (7), Chereddy Venkateswara Reddy (37), kerosene dealer, his son Ch Surendra (9), Gaddala China Vengal Rao (13), and his mother Gaddala Ramanamma (35). One victim is yet to be indentified.

The injured, Konda Ademma, Ch Adilakshmi and Ch Sujatha were admitted to the University General Hospital (UGH). Their condition is stated to be stable.Initially theneighbours thought it was an LPG cylinder explosion. But, all the four gas cylinders in the house were intact ruling out the possibility of an LPG blast. Police sources said had it been an LPG cyclinder explosion there would have been a major fire. But there was no fire, only black smoke.

Similarly, many express doubt over the Diwali crackers being the cause of the explosion. There was only one deafening sound. If it were crackers there would have been a series of cracking sounds. And it was not the case, an intelligence official pointed out.

The entire Bhavanipuram and nearby Vidyadharapuram area received jerks and many residents believed that a mild tremor had hit the city. People living in a radius of five kilometres came out of the houses and scurried for shelter after they heard a deafening sound.

Window panes and television screens in many houses developed cracks while domestic electricity wires got snapped. The tap in the house was thrown off from the pipeline and it fell at a distance of 10metres. Glass panes and broken tiles lay strewn all around the site of explosion.