Twelve people, including four children, were killed and another 12 injured when a huge quantity of gelatine sticks stored in a house illegally caught fire and exploded on Monday morning in Guntur district.

In spite of being arrested thrice and serving a four-month sentence for storing explosive substances in his house, the owner, P Koteshwara Rao, a supplier of gelatine sticks to quarries, continued to keep a huge pile of gelatine sticks in his two-storey house right in the middle of a residential area. The incident occurred in Narayanapuram village in Dachipalle Mandal, 70 km from Guntur. Rao, his wife and three others in the house perished in the mishap.

At least 50 children in a school close by had a miraculous escape as the compound wall of the school collapsed in the blast and debris rained on the school premises.