Patna, Nov 4 (IANS): At least seven persons were injured after an LPG cylinder exploded in Bihar’s East Champaran district on Friday evening.

The explosion took place at Bhatnahiya village under the Darpa police station of the district.

Police said that all seven persons were critically injured in the mishap and were referred to Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital Muzaffarpur for better treatment. They were initially admitted at Sadar Hospital Motihari.

The victims have been identified as Jagu Ram (50), his wife Urmila Devi (45), son Suraj Kumar (12), Jagu Ram’s brother’s wife, neighbour Pradeep Kumar (45),Pradeep Kumar's sons Ankit Kumar (16) and Mukund Kumar (13).

“As soon as we learnt about the incident, our team rushed to the village. Preliminary investigation revealed that when Urmila Devi lit the lighter to burn the LPG stove, the pipe caught fire and the cylinder exploded before she would switch off the regulator,” Dharmendra Kumar, SHO of Darpa police station, told IANS.

The cylinder exploded in such a manner that the fire completely engulfed the house and soon spread to the neighbour's house. Neighbour Pradeep Kumar and his two sons were also injured in the incident. As soon as the police learnt about the incident, Fire engines were called to douse the flame, Kumar said.