Five people were killed while several others were reported injured after suspected gas leak at a cold storage in Kanpur's Shivrajpur area caused an explosion in which parts of the building collapsed.
Several people are feared trapped in the debris, and fire brigade personnel along with National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Army teams are carrying out rescue and relief operations, SP (Rural) Rajesh Kumar said.
Kumar said the gas leak started at the Katiyar Cold Storage in the afternoon. In the resulting explosion, the roof of the structure collapsed.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Ramayan Prasad said the five seriously injured labourers, who were rescued between 4 PM and 6 PM, were declared brought dead by doctors of the medical college-cum-hospital here.
Eleven labourers have been rescued and those with minor injuries have been released for the hospital after treatment, he said.
Doctors at the hospital have been put on alert as the number of those injured is expected to rise, Prasad said.
Officials said the building apparently came down after a gas leak in the chiller plant led to an explosion.
The cold storage building at Shivrajpur was crowded when the tragedy occurred as many farmers were there to stock the potato harvest.
Kanpur District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said around two dozen labourers were having their lunch when the incident happened.
More labourers could be still trapped under the debris, district administration officials said.
The DM said rescue workers have been given protective gear, including masks. The district administration will also check if the cold storage had a license.
