Gas explosion leaves seven dead, 20 injured

Seven people were killed and 20 were injured today when two gas canisters exploded at an outdoor market in central Russia.

The blast hit about midday at the Kirov market in Samara, 500 miles southeast of Moscow.

A duty officer at the Samara department of the Emergency Situations Ministry said that the canisters had exploded while being used to cook food, and that foul play was not suspected.

The duty officer predicted that the death toll would rise.