More than 60 cooking gas cylinders loaded in a truck en route to Ghaziabad blew up in an explosion on early Saturday, the fire department said.
The explosion was caused by a fire around 4 am, likely due to friction in the cylinders, officials said. At least four furniture shops in the vicinity turned into ashes and some vehicles parked nearby also burned, they said.
Chief Fire Officer Rahul Pal said that it took more than eight fire tenders around 90 minutes to douse the flames. No casualties were reported. The sound of the explosion and the consequent mayhem sent people nearby scampering to safety.