Shimla, Jul 18 (PTI) One person was killed and seven others were injured in a blast on Tuesday evening at an eating joint adjacent to the fire brigade office on the Mall Road in the heart of Shimla, officials said.

The blast occurred at the Himachali Rasoi eating point located in Middle Bazaar just below the Mall Road and four to six shops have been damaged, they said.

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The intensity of the blast was such the that window glasses of several houses in the vicinity were broken and the sound was heard miles away. As the spot is a few meters away from the fire station and the police control room, rescue operations were launched swiftly.

Witnesses said they suspect it to be a cylinder blast. They said they had complained of a gas leak about 20 minutes before the blast.

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"One person was killed in the blast while seven others who sustained burn injuries were immediately rushed to Indira Gandhi Medical College Hospital (IGMCH) Shimla," Deputy Commissioner, Shimla Aditya Negi told The PTI.

Police and forensic teams are at the spot and it would be ascertained soon what caused the blast, he added.

BJP spokesperson Karan Nanda, who was on the spot, demanded an enquiry into the incident and adequate compensation to those whose shops have been damaged.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)