The blast occurred yesterday when the victims were extricating metal from a used army shell, Uttar Pradesh additional director general of police (Brij Lal) said in Lucknow.
The toll in the blast at a Mathura scrap shop has reached seven, with one more person succumbing to his injuries, a senior Uttar Pradesh official said in Lucknow today.
"While six persons were killed yesterday, Amir, who was seriously injured in the blast, succumbed to his injuries at S N Medical College Agra this morning, taking the toll to seven," principal secretary (home) Fateh Bahadur told reporters.
Six persons were killed and seven others injured when an army shell exploded while the victims were extricating metal from the scrap in Nai Basti area of Mathura yesterday.
Bahadur said that of the six, three persons were killed on the spot while three died in hospital.
"Farida who sustained serious injuries in the blast has been referred to S N Medical College Agra for treatment," he said.
Director general of police Karamveer Singh said an examination of two more shells recovered from the spot indicated that they had been used by the army earlier.
"The shell is very old and has the design of shells manufactured in 1964. It would have been used till 1980-84," he said.
Singh said that such type of shells were used in 84 mm rocket launchers.
"We are investigating whether these shells were disposed of as scrap by the army. It is suspected that the scrap dealers picked the shells from the ranges near Mathura used by the army for practice," he said.
The DGP said the assistance of the army would also be taken.
The Uttar Pradesh government announced a financial assistance of Rs1 lakh to kin of the people killed in the blast and Rs50,000 to the injured.
Expressing grief over the incident, chief minister Mayawati directed the district administration to ensure proper medical treatment of the injured.
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