At least 47 deaths in Pakistan explosion

EXPLOSIVES stored in a house blew up yesterday, sending a huge fireball through a Pakistani village, killing at least 47 and injuring 150, reports said.

Many of the victims were fighting the early-morning fire in Gayal when the dynamite used for building a state-funded water channel ripped the village apart, destroying or damaging at least half of its 100 homes, witnesses said.

"Suddenly a big explosion jolted the entire village and a flood of fire swept through the nearby homes," said villager Nazir Ahmed, 20, whose sister and nephew were killed.