Allahabad, May 24 (IANS): The toll in Wednesday's bomb blast in the Kareili area of Allahabad, around 200 km from Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow, has overnight climbed to six, with four more children succumbing to their injuries, police said here Thursday.
All those killde were aged between 8-13 years. Police, however, have ruled out a terror angle.
Residents of Kareili, a slum area in the city, alleged that someone threw a hand grenade in the area where children were playing. They also alleged that a real estate group was threatening and asking them to vacate the land, and they suspected its involvement in the blast, according to police.
Around 200 slums have come up in the C block of Kareili near the Bada Nala, police said.
Investigators are probing the make of the bomb that killed the children. Of the 12 others injured, the condition of three children and a woman is stated to be critical. The victims were admitted to the Colvin Hospital and the Swarooprani Nehru Hospital in the city.
The district administration has announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs.100,000 for those killed in the explosion and Rs.50,000 for those seriously wounded in the blast.
Forensic teams, an anti-bomb squad, sniffer dogs and the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) were rushed to the blast site. A detailed report is likely to be sent to the union home ministry and the state government later Thursday, an official told IANS.