Blast in Meerut; 5 killed, 10 injured

At least five people are reported to have been killed in a blast in Uttar Pradesh town of Meerut, 72 km from Delhi.

Sources say the blast took place in a scrap-dealer's shop in Meerut’s crowded Fatehpur locality. At least 10 people are reported to have been injured in the blast that took place at 1600 hrs .

"This was a scrap blast. The junk dealers had taken the scrap from Meerut Cantonment and while taking out the brass from a live shell, it exploded," SSP Meerut Raghuvir Lal tells CNN-IBN.

Denying it was a terror attack, the SSP said it was an unexploded army mortar shell at a waste dump that exploded.

Police have been rushed to the spot and there's heavy deployment in the city.

DIG (Meerut) P K Ramamurthy told PTI he feared the toll may go up.