Nine persons were killed and two others seriously injured when an old building collapsed after a blast in Dondaicha town of Sindkhoda taluka of Dhule district on Tuesday. The two-storeyed building in the Munna Chowk area was 90 years old and was occupied by two families. Around 5.30 am, there was a blast and the building collapsed, trapping the inmates underneath.

The bodies of Shaminabi Karimkhan Pathan (6), Ashrafkhan Karimkhan Pathan (9), Jumedkhan Karimkhan Pathan (8), Hamidabi Jamalkhan Pathan (5O), Mehmunabi Karimkhan Pathan (32), Danishkhan Usman Khan (6), Nafisabi Usmankhan Siklikar (30), Zubedabi Muradkhan Siklikar (60) and Mudassar Usmankhan (3 months), were recovered from the debris.

Two others, Wasim Hamidkhan Pathan (21) and Tabassum Karimkhan Pathan (15), were seriously wounded and were rushed to the Dhule district hospital. Four persons, Usmankhan Muradkhan Siklikar (35), Firozekhan Muradkhan (25), Yunus Muradkhan (20) and Iqbal Jamadkhan (32),sustained minor injuries. The cause of the blast is still unknown.

Declare district drought-hit: ZP

The Nashik Zilla Parishad has demanded that the district be declared drought-hit following the failure of kharif crops due to untimely rains and adverse weather conditions. The ZP passed a resolution to the effect in its general body meeting. It was moved by Yeshwant Patil and seconded by Dinkar Thakre (both from the Congress party). The resolution was carried unanimously, after a discussion on the shortfall in kharif production and the acute shortage of seeds for the summer onion crop. It also demanded that the government provide seeds to farmers or subsidise the prices of onion seeds.